CTS in Business Transition as U.S. Scheduled Flights Begin

Some of the charter companies that have traditionally served Cuba from the U.S. feel they can’t stand a genuine chance to compete with U.S. carriers now that scheduled flights between the two countries have resumed.

Cuba Travel Services (CTS) recently stopped flying to the Cuban provinces as commercial airlines began serving those territories with scheduled flights. Now the company is involved in a transition of its services between charter and scheduled regular air service.

“We have contracts with some of the big U.S. carriers, like American Airlines, Delta, Southwest and JetBlue. We continue to operate charter flights today from Miami and New York City to Havana. That hasn’t changed,” CTS President Michael Zuccato told Caribbean News Digital in Cienfuegos, on the heels of American Airlines’ inaugural scheduled flight to Cuba.

From the very beginning, CTS understood the competition against major U.S. airlines was no way a viable option, so the California-based group decided to approach those big airlines and sign agreements with them for the Cuba service.

Thanks to those agreements, CTS is now allowed to sell travel packages to Cuba, a good way to engage the carriers and help them open up routes into Cuba.

“We’ll continue to operate charter flights to Cuba seasonally and do a lot of executive airline groups, such as private jets for people who do want to travel to Cuba,” Mr. Zuccato went on to say.

One of the feasible ways to enhance the cooperation between CTS and the U.S. carriers now serving Cuba is through air consolidation agreements, thanks in part to the volumes of passengers the company works with right now.

In 1999, Cuba Travel Services operated the first nonstop flight between Los Angeles (LAX) and Havana, Cuba in more than 40 years. Cuba Travel Services also opened the Miami to Cienfuegos route in 2001. They also opened offices in Tampa and Las Vegas, Nevada.

Currently they have offices in Miami, Hialeah, and California, they are considered the largest Tour Operator serving Cuba from the United States. Today, Cuba Travel Services operate daily flights between Miami and Havana. They also serve from Miami to Havana, Cienfuegos, Camaguey, Santiago de Cuba, and Santa Clara. From Tampa they operate to Havana and Santa Clara.