The low-cost US airline Southwest Airlines will increase its flights to Cuba from Florida starting in May, according to a statement from the company.
In the case of the route between Havana and Fort Lauderdale, the trips are tripled, going from one to three daily. In addition, one more flight will be added to the daily service between the Cuban capital and Tampa on Saturdays.
“The airline’s service, by offering authorized trips between the United States and Cuba, is available to more Southwest customers,” the company said in its statement.
In June 2017, Southwest chose to reduce routes and concentrate them in Havana, suspending those to beach tourist destinations
Southwest Airlines requested permission to operate in Cuba when commercial flights were authorized in 2016 under President Barack Obama. The airline then began to travel to Varadero and Santa Clara in addition to the capital.
In 2017, with Donald Trump as president of the United States, the bubble of flights to Cuba began to burst. Firstly because of the saturation of the market, but also because the travel measures were becoming more restrictive.
In June 2017, Southwest chose to reduce routes and concentrate them in Havana, suspending those to beach tourist destinations.
“Our decision to interrupt the other flights to Cuba comes after an in-depth analysis of our performance for several months, which confirmed that there is no clear path to ensure the sustainability of the service to those markets,” Steve Goldberg, manager in Florida, said at the time. of the company.
In February of this year, the company resumed its operations to Cuba after the pandemic break and is the second airline, after Jet Blue, between the cities of Havana and Fort Lauderdale.
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