The U.S. Awards Airlines Routes to Cuba: The Big Prize Is Still Up for Grabs

The new U.S.-Cuba aviation treaty allows U.S.-based airlines to operate up to 110 daily flights to Cuba: 20 to Havana and 10 each to nine other international airports in the island nation.Havana is Cuba's political, cultural, and economic hub -- and its largest city by far -- so airlines are extremely eager to fly there. When the U.S. government began the application process for allocating routes to Cuba, airlines requested nearly three times as many flights to Havana as the 20 daily frequencies that are available. By contrast, airlines are a lot less interested in operating routes to Cuba's secondary cities.