U.S. to Halt Charter Flights to Nine Cuban Airports, Cap Number of Flights to Havana
February 14, 2020
On January 10, 2020, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that the State Department was officially requesting that DOT suspend public charter flights from the U.S. to nine airports in Cuba, and that DOT restrict the total number of flights allowed to Havana’s Jose Marti International Airport. Pompeo stated the ban would be part of an effort to “prevent the Cuban regime from gaining access to hard currency from U.S. travelers” and to “further restrict the Cuban regime’s ability to obtain revenue, which it uses to finance its ongoing repression of the Cuban people and its unconscionable support for dictator Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela.”
In tandem, DOT issued a Notice on January 10, 2020, effective 60 days later (i.e., March 10, 2020), suspending the authority granted to all public charter operators for public charter flights between any point in the U.S. and any point in Cuba, except José Martí International Airport (HAV) in Havana. Then, on January 29, 2020, DOT issued an Order to Show Cause stating that it would cap the number of authorized public charter flights from the U.S. to HAV initially at the level of service in calendar year 2019, or approximately 3,600 round-trip flights. DOT tentatively set out allocation procedures for these flights, stating it would distribute up to 75% of available flights to incumbent operators Swift Air, LLC and Caribbean Sun Airlines, Inc. d/b/a World Atlantic Airlines and institute a first-come, first-served charter pool for the remainder of the available flights.
Interested parties have 14 calendar days (i.e., through February 12, 2020) from the date of the Order to Show Cause to file any objections in Docket DOT-OST-2020-0011.
If you have any questions, please contact Evelyn Sahr (esahr@eckertseamans.com or 202-659-6622); Drew Derco (dderco@eckertseamans.com or 202-659-6665).
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