TIA Pushing for Direct Havana Flights

Tampa International Airport officials are in discussions with charter businesses licensed for flights to Cuba in anticipation of receiving federal approval to become one of four airports authorized for travel to Cuba.

U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Tampa, has dogged federal officials since mid-April in an effort to add Tampa as a departure point.

Castor has written Timothy Geithner, secretary of the treasury, and Gary Locke, Department of Commerce secretary, requesting designation of Tampa International as an airport authorized to provide nonstop Cuban air charter service.

Castor noted in the letters, copies of which were sent to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, that census data shows the Tampa area has 67,000 Cuban-Americans, the fifth largest population of Cuban-Americans.

Since President Obama’s decision to allow Cuban-Americans to visit their relatives in Cuba, the number of U.S. travelers to Cuba is expected to nearly triple from 10,000 per month to nearly 30,000, Castor wrote.

At a subcommittee hearing last week, Castor broached the airport subject with two commerce department officials.

When Castor mentioned Frank Sanchez, the Tampa lawyer who is Obama’s nominee for undersecretary of international trade, “they said they would get to work on it.”

Airport administrators already have consulted with U.S. Customs and Immigration officials who indicated it would be no burden to handle clearance procedures for Cuba travelers, said Louis Miller, TIA’s executive director.

The airport has the space to accommodate the additional passengers and vendors that would be involved in flights to Cuba, Miller said. He also is talking with several charter companies licensed to provide Cuba travel.

“This would be charter flights nonstop out of Tampa,” he said. “It’s a matter of speculation right now about numbers, but we know the passenger traffic would be a lot.”

The prospect of unlimited travel to Cuba is on the horizon, which means TIA would be in a good position if it already has been designated as a port, Miller said. “Once things are lifted, we would sort of have a foot in the door,” he said.

Castor said easing the hardships on Cuban-Americans who have been restricted in the past from visiting families is her first goal. As far as signing on as a co-sponsor to a current House bill that would lift all Cuba travel restrictions, Castor said she would like to see “some gesture from the Cuban government” dealing with political prisoners and other issues.

However, she is thinking of signing on as a co-sponsor of the bill, citing the benefits of better contact and engagement with the Cuban people.