DESTINATIONS Cuba
Alaska hopes to fly twice daily to Havana from LA
take advantage of the new traffic rights between the countries,” he said. Altogether, the airlines in question have
requested almost three times as many routes to Havana as the US DOT is allowed to distribute. This can only be good news for customers as the increased competition will lower prices and offer plenty of choice. There was also expected to be a further thawing of the US-Cuba relationship as further measures to ease travel and trade restrictions were announced ahead of President Barack Obama’s historic visit to Cuba in March to try to kickstart a business relationship with Cuba. Despite the optimism and massive
interest from the US carriers in Cuba’s potential, the delivery of multiple daily scheduled frequencies into Cuba from the US is likely to be a slow process so as to not overwhelm the nation’s limited tourism infrastructure. Predicted market demand will ultimately determine whether charter flights continue or are replaced by new scheduled links. At the recent Routes Americas air
service development forum in San Juan, Puerto Rico, speakers repeatedly expressed concerns over infrastructure issues. Peter Cerda, IATA’s RVP in the Americas,
said it could be some time before these available frequencies come to fruition. “While Havana gaining 20 new flights per day will not create an overcapacity, it could be four or five years before all these 110 flights are up and running as we don’t currently have the infrastructure in place to support them. This isn’t necessarily the airports but also hotels and road link,” he adds. Terry Thornton, SVP of itinerary planning for Carnival Cruise Lines, described many of the country’s ports as being in “a sad state of affairs”, but explained after a US Coast Guard review of the facilities that it was “fully capable and ready to invest” in Cuba. Parent company
50 ISSUE 3 ROUTES NEWS 2016
routesonline.com
Carnival Corp is to sail its first itineraries including the country next month and has located the 850-passenger Fathom in the Dominican Republic in preparation. The reaction from the US airline industry
to the Cuban opportunity highlights the massive potential on offer from a market that has been closed to scheduled traffic for more than half a century. Cuba boasts something unique in the international tourism market and the US DOT now has the power of air accessibility that will permit improved connectivity, just so long as the country’s ageing tourist infrastructure can cope with an impending spike in visitor numbers. £
five biggest US airlines have bid for
American Airlines: 12 daily flights to Havana, including 10 from Miami. JetBlue Airways: 15 daily
frequencies, serving four Cuban cities from six US destinations. Delta Air Lines: Daily services from
four US cities to Havana. United Airlines: Daily service to Havana from Newark and three further weekly services from other cities. Southwest Airlines: Three daily Havana services and daily service from Fort Lauderdale to Varadero and Santa Clara.
What the
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