Delta Airlines restarts 2 daily Miami-Havana flights

MIAMI – Delta Airlines restarted two daily Miami-Havana flights.

Yudith Padron was flying out of Miami International Airport to Havana on Monday morning. She said in Spanish that she had chosen Delta over American Airlines because it was more affordable.

Mercy Vitali, who owns a travel agency in Miami Lakes, agreed and said this is because Delta has the better deal with it comes to luggage fees. Travelers usually load up on medicine and food for their Cuban families.

Delta, founded in 1925, first restarted flights to Cuba in 2016 after a five-decade-long suspension. The airline suspended the flights again in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Aside from Delta and AA at MIA, airlines such as JetBlue and Southwest also offer flights to Cuba out of the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. AA is the only airline to operate daily flights to five other destinations in Cuba.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, under the 2016 Memorandum of Understanding, or MOU, between the U.S. and Cuba, U.S. carriers may operate up to 20 daily round-trip flights.

In addition to the scheduled carrier services, there are several charter operations serving various points in Cuba, primarily from Miami, and these are not limited, according to DOT.

Here is a chart of the services DOT allows by MOU:

This U.S. Department of Transportation chart shows the services U.S. carriers are allowed to have (US Department of Transportation)

About the Author:

In January 2017, Hatzel Vela became the first local television journalist in the country to move to Cuba and cover the island from the inside. During his time living and working in Cuba, he covered some of the most significant stories in a post-Fidel Castro Cuba.