JetBlue Airwaysthe first to have resumed regular flights between United States and Cuba in 2016, shortly after the restoration of diplomatic relations between the two countries, suspended all its flights to the communist island.
“JetBlue has decided to suspend all its routes to Cuba», announced the American airline in a press release, specifying that the last connection would take place on September 17, explaining that “demand for travel to the island was significantly impacted by restrictions placed on travel to Cuba following the launch of our service“.
Washington still officially prohibits American tourists to go to Cuba. Travel is, however, authorized for family reunions or cultural and educational exchanges. JetBlue was the first – since 1961 and the breakdown of diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba – to launch with great fanfare on August 31, 2016 a regular line between an American airport, that of Fort Lauderdale, in Florida, and a city Cuban, Santa Clara, in the center of the island.
Since 1962, the United States has imposed an economic embargo on Cuba, which is still in force today. However, air links were reestablished between the two countries thanks to the diplomatic rapprochement between the two former enemies of the Cold War, when Barack Obama (2009-2017) was in the White House, only in the context of family reunifications. or cultural and educational exchanges. But President Donald Trump (2017-2021) had tightened sanctions, notably suspending all flights between the United States and the provinces of the island, retaining only those to the capital. In 2022, the Democratic administration of President Joe Biden authorized the resumption of routes to the provinces.
