JetBlue Starts Regular Flights between Boston and Havana

U.S. low-cost airline JetBlue inaugurated Saturday a new route that connects the city of Boston, in the state of Massachusetts, with Havana, Cuba.

At the ceremony, held at Terminal 3 of the Jose Marti International Airport in the Cuban capital, JetBlue executives expressed gratitude towards the Cuban authorities within the Ministry of Transport and the Civil Aviation Institute for the cooperation to expand the airline’s operations on the island nation.

With the grand opening of this flight from Boston, JetBlue has Cuba-bound regular flights from four U.S. cities. The list includes Fort Lauderdale and Orlando, in the state of Florida, and New York City.

After the traditional arc of water –a commonplace practice of civil aviation around the world to celebrate the opening of a new route- authorities of the Cuban Civil Aviation Institute recalled that JetBlue was the first America airline to resume commercial flights between Cuba and the United States on August 31, 2016.

“This flight is an example of the potentials the Cuban market has to offer. But it is an example, also, of the friendship between the peoples of Cuba and the United States, which can open the gateways to companies, institutions and sectors of the United States willing to maintain a different kind of bilateral relationship with Cuba,” said Omar Goslin Collymore, general manager of Terminal 3 at the Jose Marti International Airport, in his keynote speech before executives and passengers that got off JetBlue’s inaugural flight.

For their part, JetBlue executives highlighted how, amid regulations and laws in force that prevent U.S. citizens from traveling freely to Cuba, the company flies to and from four Cuban airports and four American cities.

“Our commitment to this nation has remained unaltered and we cannot be any more excited today to connect the people of Boston with the rich history of this island and its people,” said Raul Alcazan, general manager of the JetBlue office in Cuba.

The new Boston-Havana route, like the rest of the commercial operations between Cuba and the United States, was implemented after the signing of a memorandum of understanding between both nations.

In one of its articles, the document expresses willingness to comply with and abide by international conventions related to the security of civil aviation, of which both Cuba and the United States are signatory nations.