Cuba: JetBlue Announces New Routes to Havana

With this week’s announcement of new charter service to Havana from New York, JetBlue became the first major airline to expand Cuba services since the warming of diplomatic relations between the two countries earlier this year. And the airline sees more Cuba flights in its future: “Cuba will one day play an important role in JetBlue’s overall Caribbean network, a region where JetBlue is the largest airline.”

The new service will launch on July 3, operating once weekly, on Fridays, with 150-seat Airbus A320s. Interested travelers must book their flights through JetBlue’s charter partner, Cuba Travel Services.

Until relations between the U.S. and Cuba are further normalized, Americans still may not visit Cuba as tourists; they must be approved to visit a close relative or as a participant in an academic program or under one of ten other categories of sanctioned travel.

JetBlue is already the largest U.S. airline to the Caribbean, followed by American, and has operated Cuba charters since 2011. The upcoming New York flights will be in addition to the airline’s existing charter services to Cuba from Tampa and Ft. Lauderdale.

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This article originally appeared on FrequentFlier.com.