JetBlue Becomes First Major Airline To Offer Direct Flights To Cuba

In the latest sign that the normalization of relations between the United States and Cuba is picking up steam, JetBlue has officially added a direct flight from New York’s JFK airport to Cuba.

The Queens-based company on Friday became the first major carrier to do so, responding to market demand now that the Obama administration has eased travel bans on the socialist country.

JetBlue first announced the move back in May and on Friday afternoon it flew the route for the first time.

The discount airline will offer weekly charter flights that leave JFK at noon on every Friday, bound for the capital of Havana. The flights will take approximately three and a half hours, almost the exact same amount of time as a trip to Florida.

Small airline Sun Country has been offering similar direct flights for a few months now but JetBlue’s entry suggests the carrier is seeing significant demand for the trips, which were as of last year officially banned.

As we covered previously, ferry service is also slated to resume between Florida and Cuba in the coming months.

Stay Connected