Florida Keys Offer Cuba Travel Options

While two U.S. airlines said Monday they plan to ax South Florida routes to Cuba, there are still flight options in the Middle and Lower Keys.

Fort Lauderdale-based Silver Airways will suspend its Cuba service in April and Frontier is canceling its Miami-Havana route on June 4 due to higher-than-anticipated costs and lower-than-expected demand, according to the Miami Herald.

A visa, travel medical insurance and one of 12 reasons to be in the country as defined by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control are mandatory. Tourism is not one of the reasons allowed to travel to Cuba; allowed are trips such as for educational or cultural exchanges.

Melanie and Brian Slaga run Duck Key Charters in Marathon and work with World Cuba Travel to arrange trips. Direct flights are from Florida Keys Marathon International Airport to Havana Jose Marti International Airport.

“It’s kind of off the grid over there,” Melanie Slaga said. “It’s all very easy but you just need to go with people who know what they’re doing — and bring cash because MasterCard and Visa won’t work.”

Roundtrip flights cost $3,400 for the five-person plane, Slaga said, adding the average stay is about three nights in Havana. About 30 people have gone since the beginning of the year.

Havana Air offers flights out of Key West International Airport and agent Cindy Skomp said more people are taking advantage of Monday, Thursday and Friday flights, which leave at 10 a.m. and fly to Havana. A round-trip ticket on the nine-seat Britten-Norman Islander plane costs $550 on top of fees for a visa and health insurance, a $30 departure tax and $20 for a bag.

KeysAir Aviation offers plane rentals at the Marathon airport ranging in price from $135 to $225 per flight hour. The six-plane fleet includes Cessna and Cirrus planes. Pilot certification and insurance are required.

T.J. Henderson, Marathon airport manager, did not have exact numbers for how many travelers have left Marathon’s U.S. Customs and Border Protection office for Cuba but said about 25 mostly private flights have arrived from Cuba since the office opened in spring 2016.

Source: FL Keys News