How to Rent a Private Jet to Cuba

How to Rent a Private Jet to Cuba
Written by Barbara Peterson January 28, 2016

Just gather some friends, $11k, and have a good reason to go.
Getting to Cuba continues to get easier: JetSuite, the jet charter
company that pioneered "value"-oriented private air travel via a fleet
of smaller, lighter jets, is staking out new turf with flights to once
off-limits Caribbean island. Customers will now be able to charter one
of JetSuite's six-passenger CJ3 jets nonstop to Havana from one of 16
U.S. gateways authorized by the U.S. government; they include virtually
all major airports in the state of Florida, including Key West, plus
Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, Houston, New Orleans, and, farther afield, New
York, Chicago, Baltimore, and Pittsburgh.

One-way pricing, for a flight with a full load of six, varies according
to the length of the trip, ranging from $11,152 out of Key West to
$23,675 from Chicago. And private or not, the U.S. government still has
an interest in knowing the purpose of your journey. Alex Wilcox,
JetSuite CEO, explains that customers need to secure the necessary
permission that's required of all U.S. visitors to Cuba. In other words,
they must be able to show they satisfy one of the 12 approved reasons
for the trip—and tourism is not among them.

Still, Wilcox told Conde Nast Traveler that he's gotten a lot of
interest from potential customers eager to explore a destination in
transition. Wilcox said that he hasn't seen any particular challenges in
flying to Havana; after all, his company serves more than 2,000
airports, large and small, some of them with limited services. "We're
not talking about Timbuktu," he says. "Havana is a major international
airport."

The California-based operator isn't the first private air company to get
into the U.S.-Cuba market—private jet app Victor is already here, but
it's getting in just as interest in the destination is surging,
post-détente. Flying to the island nation is still far from simple for
U.S. travelers; other than charter flights, there's no regular
commercial air service between the countries (yet). Scheduled flights
are expected to resume later this year, with airlines like American and
JetBlue declaring their intention to fly to Cuba under their own colors
at affordable fares. In the meantime, companies like JetSuite and Victor
can get you there in style.

Source: How to Rent a Private Jet to Cuba - Condé Nast Traveler -
http://www.cntraveler.com/stories/2016-01-28/how-to-rent-a-private-jet-to-cuba