• Submitted by: manso
• Business and Economy
• 07 / 28 / 2011

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Posted by bshaw on July, 27 2011 4:02 PM. By William E. Gibson, Washington Bureau. WASHINGTON — Central Florida passengers will be able to visit Cuba without going through Miami or Fort Lauderdale airports because of a decision announced on Wednesday providing landing rights for nonstop flights from Tampa.

A charter airline company operating at Tampa International Airport received belated permission from the Cuban government, clearing the way for direct, nonstop flights as early as September.

“This is the last piece of the puzzle,” said Congresswoman Kathy Castor, a Democrat from Tampa, who has pushed hard for Tampa-to-Cuba trips.

“The Tampa Bay region has one of the highest Cuban-American populations in this country, but for too long families have had to travel to Miami in order to get to Cuba,” Castor said. “They have had to spend extra money for hotel rooms and plane tickets to do so, making an already expensive journey even more cumbersome.”

Airports in Miami, New York and Los Angeles have been making nonstop flights to Cuba for years, mostly serving Cuban-Americans, journalists and others with special reasons to visit the island.

The Obama administration announced a rules change in January to allow more U.S. airports to make nonstop flights to Cuba as part of a people-to-people initiative. The new rules also loosened travel restrictions by allowing cultural, educational and religious groups to sponsor visits without seeking permission with each trip.

U.S. law still forbids general-purpose tourism to the island. Cuban-American members of Congress strongly oppose looser travel rules for fear that more trips will put more money in the hands of the Castro government.

Airports in Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers and some other cities took advantage of the opportunity and are gearing up for charter flights. For reasons unknown to Castor and other boosters, Cuba has been slow to grant landing rights to the Tampa airport.

The breakthrough came this week.

“ABC Charters is proud to facilitate the reunification of the Cuban-American families in Tampa and the adjoining areas,” said Tessie Aral, president of ABC Charters. “They no longer will need to drive several hours to Miami so they can visit their families in Cuba.”

Source: http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2011/07/cuba-grants-landi...