Airports Queue to Fly to Cuba

Airports Queue to Fly to Cuba
By PAULO PRADA

U.S. airports are pressing the government to broaden the list of ports
of entry allowed to handle flights to and from Cuba, even though the
White House is proceeding cautiously with changes in travel policy.

In a recent letter, Peter Horton, the director of Key West International
Airport in Florida, urged the Treasury Department to add the facility to
the list of three big international airports in Miami, Los Angeles and
New York. Earlier this year, Tampa's airport made a similar request. And
airport officials in Houston, already one of the biggest gateways
between the U.S. and Latin America, say local business leaders have
pressed them to push for access to Cuba, too.

In April, the Obama administration eased restrictions on travel and
money transfers to the island by U.S. citizens or residents with family
in Cuba. The recent requests are an effort by cities and airports to
position themselves ahead of any further loosening of travel policy.

"Cities are looking to get ready for any other moves that could mean
more travelers flying back and forth between the two countries," said
Kirby Jones, a consultant in Bethesda, Md., who advises companies on
business with Cuba.

A spokeswoman said the Treasury couldn't comment on specific requests
for changes to existing travel policy, but that requests were reviewed
when received.

Under Treasury rules, travel to Cuba by Americans is restricted to
family members of Cuban citizens, government officials, academics and
others who qualify for special licenses to travel there. About 50,000
American travelers, most of whom traveled by charter flights, received
licenses last year.

If the travel ban were lifted, eventually as many as one million
Americans a year would visit Cuba, according to the U.S. International
Trade Commission, a federal agency. Already, charter operators say the
changes earlier in the year have caused a spike in the number of
Cuba-bound passengers.

"There's a lot of pent-up demand," said Tom Cooper, chairman of
Gulfstream Air Charter Inc., a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., carrier that has
seen a 25% increase in passengers on the flights it operates between
Miami and Cuba.

For decades, travel-related businesses have decried U.S. restrictions,
designed to punish Cuba's Communist government, because the rules
prevent what could be a lucrative market from developing. Last week,
Orbitz Worldwide Inc., the online travel agency, emailed customers
asking them to sign a petition urging the U.S. government to lift the
ban on travel to and from Cuba outright. The message cites bills,
introduced earlier this year in Congress, that propose to do that.

The Obama administration, despite the easing of policy since it took
office, hasn't prodded lawmakers to make the bills a priority. Both
President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have said
that any further changes in travel policy, or the broader and
longstanding economic embargo against the Cuban regime, would depend on
whether Havana takes steps toward democracy.

Still, airports angling for future Cuba service say they need to get
ready. Mr. Horton, the Key West airport director, said the island's
proximity to Cuba, plus the sizable Cuban-American community living
nearby, are factors that would sustain a market for charter flights. The
airport has been in the process of expansion and renovation this year.

The airport's letter to the Treasury was accompanied by a letter from
Cape Air, an East Coast carrier that flies to Key West, expressing
interest in flying to Cuba.

If demand for flights were to increase because of further lifting of
restrictions, Mr. Horton said, "the last thing that we want is to get
lost in the shuffle as people scramble to try to fly there."

Write to Paulo Prada at paulo.prada@wsj.com

Airports Queue to Fly to Cuba - WSJ.com (28 July 2009)
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124874322861385439.html