• Submitted by: manso
• Editorial Articles
• 01 / 20 / 2011

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By Ted Jackovics Tampa Tribune, Fla.Publication: Tampa Tribune (Florida) Date: Friday, January 14 2011. For the first time in nearly 50 years, Tampa International Airport will be eligible to restore direct flights to Cuba,fulfilling a longstanding goal of local Cuban Americans forced to rely on Miami's airport because of federal restrictions.

Under new Obama Administration guidelines announced late this afternoon, Tampa International will be able to host charter service to serve the fifth largest U.S. population of Cuban Americans, U.S. Rep Kathy Castor, D-Tampa said.

The Obama plans also would allow Americans to send up to $2,000 a year to Cuban citizens who are not part of the Castro government and are not members of the Communist Party in policy changes expected to take place within a month.

Castor launched an initiative on behalf of Tampa International two years ago to permit airports beyond Miami, New York and Los Angeles to serve Cuba flights, supported by numerous elected and business officials including Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio.

"With the addition of Tampa International Airport as an entry-exit point to Cuba, our hard-working families will have one burden lifted when traveling to and from the island nation," Castor said.

The new policies will allow Tampa International to apply for "final approval" for eligibility to host the Cuban charter flights, Castor said.

"Allowing charter flights to Cuba from Tampa International also opens doors to create jobs in our community," Castor said.

"Charter flight companies likely will hire local residents and our travel industry will benefit from a much needed boost."

The United States has been the fastest growing source of travel to Cuba since Obama loosened travel restrictions in April 2009, although current regulations require most visitors to have close relatives in Cuba.

About 135,000 Americans visited Cuba in 2000. That number dropped by half in 2004 when President George W. Bush tightened restrictions to allow visits by Cuban Americans once every three years and sharply curtailed the value of items U.S. travelers could take to relatives.

Various reports indicate that between 200,000 to 400,000 U.S. visitors traveled to Cuba in 2010, paying round trip air fares of $500 or more.

U.S. Census data shows the Tampa-St. Petersburg area with 66,963 Cuban Americans, and another 7,146 living in Lakeland, Castor said. About 650,000 Cuban Americans reside in Miami-Dade County.

Regularly scheduled commercial airlines flights between Tampa and Havana were commonplace into the early 1960s, when National Airlines flew their largest pre-jet airliner at the time, the DC-7B, on its Tampa-Cuba route.

About eight airlines at any given time have offered charter flights to Cuba from Miami, including large carriers like American Airlines and Allegiant Air and smaller ones like Florida-based Gulfstream Air Charter and California-based Island Travel & Tours.

Airlines indicated they would be interested in flying Cuban charters out of Tampa if the city gets permission, while AirTran Airways said it was interested in flying regularly scheduled service to Cuba.

The federal restrictions have allowed travel from the United States to Cuba for those who are visiting a close relative, along with those doing business with agriculture and medical sectors in Cuba and other exceptions such as visits for educational and religious activities.

Beyond the aviation market, Tampa Port Authority officials have monitored prospects for trade potential with Cuba if the U.S. government lifts the broad scale trade embargo.

The port's 2009 "Cuba Market Potential" report said animal feed has been the primary commodity shipped from Tampa to Cuba."At this point, the ultimate size of a post-embargo Cuban waterborne trade market and the pace of growth are difficult to reliably quantify," the report said, concluding that Tampa stands well positioned to benefit from trade and travel opportunities.

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