CUBA: Direct Flights Between US And Cuba Will Commence After 50 Years

The new direct flights from the U.S. to Cuba may impact Cayman Airways.

The United States and Cuba signed an agreement Tuesday that paves the way for up to 110 commercial flights per day between the two countries.

Several U.S. carriers, including American Airlines and Jet Blue, immediately indicated that they will seek permits to fly into Havana and other popular Cuban cities, with dozens of daily flights expected to begin as early as this fall.

The resumption of commercial flights between the two countries has been hailed as a significant development after five decades of Cold War opposition and is expected to lead to a surge in tourism from the U.S. to Cuba.

The move could have an impact on tourism across the Caribbean, with Cuba expected to take some market share from other destinations in the region which rely heavily on American visitors.

It is also likely to impact Cayman Airways, which currently flies daily to Havana from Grand Cayman, and once a week from Cayman Brac to Holguin in eastern Cuba.

The Cuba flights, one of Cayman Airways’ profitable routes, rely, in part, on travelers transiting through Cayman from Cuba to the U.S., or vice versa.

Fabian Whorms, CEO of Cayman Airways, said, “The new Air Service Agreement between Cuba and the USA has been in the works for the past year and comes as no surprise to Cayman Airways.”

He added, “Cayman Airways will continue to monitor the situation over the next eight to 10 months in order to be able to address in a timely manner, any changes necessary to our network and frequency.”

In an earlier interview, Mr. Whorms said he believed there would still be a significant role for Cayman to play in the Cuba market.

He said the “tremendous increase” in demand that would result if the U.S. allowed unrestricted travel to Cuba would not be immediately met by an increase in supply from U.S. carriers.

The agreement allows 20 regular daily U.S. flights to Havana, in addition to the current 10-15 charter flights a day. The rest would be to other Cuban cities.

American air carriers now have 15 days to apply to the Department of Transportation for permits to offer the flights.

U.S. visitors to Cuba will still have to qualify under one of the travel categories legally authorized by the U.S. government. Tourism is still barred by law, but the number of legal reasons to go to Cuba – from organizing professional meetings to distributing information to Cubans – has grown so large and is so loosely enforced that the distinction from tourism has blurred significantly.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx and Cuban Transportation Minister Adel Yzquierdo Rodriguez signed the deal in a ceremony at Havana’s Hotel Nacional.

“Today is a historic day in the relationship between Cuba and the U.S.,” said Foxx. “It represents a critically important milestone in the U.S. effort to engage with Cuba.”

Yzquierdo Rodriguez said “the adoption of this memorandum is an important step that will soon permit the establishment of regular flights between the United States and Cuba.”

Nearly 160,000 U.S. leisure travelers flew to Cuba last year, along with hundreds of thousands of Cuban-Americans visiting family, mostly on charter flights out of Florida.

Commercial flights could bring hundreds of thousands more U.S. travelers a year and make the travel process far easier.

American Airlines spokesman Matt Miller said the company plans to bid on routes from Miami and other unspecified “American hubs.”

The carrier has been operating U.S.-Cuba charter flights since April 1991, the longest of any U.S. airline, and currently offers 22 weekly flights out of Miami to Havana, Camaguey, Cienfuegos, Holguin and Santa Clara. American also flies from Tampa to Havana and Holguin, and between Los Angeles and Havana.

United Airlines is also looking to serve Havana from some of its hubs, spokesman Luke Punzenberger said. The carrier’s major hubs include Chicago, Houston, Washington and Newark, New Jersey. It currently does not fly charters to Cuba.

JetBlue said it is eager to offer service between multiple cities in the United States and the island. Spokesman Doug McGraw said “interest in Cuba has reached levels not seen for a generation.” The carrier currently flies charters out of New York, Tampa and Fort Lauderdale to various Cuban destinations.

KUWAIT: Emirates Announces Codeshare Agreement With Alaska Airlines

Emirates today announced a new codeshare and lounge agreement with Alaska Airlines (AS).

Pending governmental approval, Emirates will begin marketing up to 300 daily Alaska Airlines flights, which will give customers the simplicity of purchasing connecting flights on both airlines using one reservation, and a seamless ticketing, check-in, boarding and baggage check experience during the entire journey. In addition, the new codeshare agreement will feature several other new benefits including reciprocal lounge access and priority boarding and check-in for elite fliers.

Greater Connection Choice Across the Combined Network
With two daily flights now departing from Dubai to Seattle, the enhanced codeshare agreement gives passengers easy connections to 49 cities including Honolulu, Denver, Las Vegas, Portland, Phoenix, Pullman, Sacramento, Spokane, Anchorage, Juneau, and Fairbanks as well as Canadian destinations such as Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver and Victoria.

Business Class Lounge Access and Priority Check-in
In addition to the codeshare agreement, Emirates Skywards® Gold & Platinum members will soon have access to Alaska Airlines Board Room lounges in Anchorage, Seattle, Portland, and Los Angeles any time they book an Emirates flight that connects with Alaska Airlines. Likewise, Alaska Airlines MVP® Gold and MVP® Gold 75K members will also enjoy access to Emirates Business Class lounges at Dubai. At a later date, Emirates and Alaska Airlines elite members will also enjoy reciprocal priority check-in and boarding at Dubai, Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Redeeming Miles for Reward Travel
Since launching a frequent flier partnership in 2012, members of Emirates Skywards and Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan have enjoyed earning and redeeming Miles for travel around the world.

“Passengers will appreciate the greater choice, improved connections and many added comforts and conveniences such as lounge access and priority check-in, as a result of our new codeshare agreement with Alaska Airlines,” said Sir Tim Clark, President Emirates Airline. “Alaska Airlines’ superior service and exceptional connectivity across the US and Canada, particularly in the Pacific Northwest, perfectly complements our global network and extends the range of travel options for both our customer bases.”

“Our new codeshare agreement gives customers connecting through our West Coast hubs seamless access to Emirates’ global network,” said Brad Tilden, Chief Executive Officer and President of Alaska Airlines. “As Seattle’s hometown airline, our partnership already connects 2,500 customers a week to Emirates and we expect that to increase as we streamline the travel experience for customers traveling between Alaska and Emirates. In addition, elite members of our Mileage Plan program will enjoy unique access to the stunning Emirates lounges at Dubai.”

Passengers on Emirates flights can enjoy over 2,000 free channels of films, TV shows, music, games and podcasts through ice, the airline’s multi-award winning in-flight entertainment system, regionally inspired gourmet cuisine and Emirates’ renowned inflight service from the airline’s multi-national cabin crew comprised of over 135 nationalities. Additionally, First Class and Business Class passengers can experience Emirates’ Chauffeur-drive service, available in over 70 cities worldwide.

Emirates Flights to Seattle
Flight EK 227 departs Dubai at 3:15 a.m., and arrives in Seattle at 6:55 a.m. while flight EK 229 departs Dubai at 9:35am and arrives in Seattle at 12:55pm.

Emirates first launched service to Seattle just over three years ago in March 2012 and has since flown more than 600,000 passengers on the route. On 7th July, Emirates announced its second daily service from Dubai to Seattle. This second Seattle flight, operated with a Boeing 777-200LR aircraft, takes the number of weekly seats to Seattle to 4,340.

At Seattle–Tacoma International Airport, Alaska Airlines operates from Concourses C, D, and N, with an easy tram ride to the Emirates gates at the South Satellite to ensure a quick connection between flights.

Explore More of the Americas with Emirates’ Pass
Emirates passengers looking to explore beyond the airline’s network of American destinations now have dozens of options with the Americas Pass.

With one combined ticket, travelers flying to any of Emirates’ 10 U.S. destinations can connect to more than 90 cities across America, Canada and Latin America through Emirates’ five partner airlines: Jet Blue, Alaska Airlines, Virgin America, WestJet Airlines and Porter Airlines.

Through Emirates local office or with the help of a travel agent, Emirates customers worldwide can now simply look at the destination list, browse a variety of options and select the best route to match their itineraries.

Emirates and the U.S.
Founded in 1985, Emirates is a global connector of people, places and economies. Based in Dubai, the airline’s global network serves 147 destinations in 79 countries across six continents. Its luxurious amenities, regionally inspired gourmet cuisine, award-winning in-flight entertainment system – ice – and unmatched hospitality provided by its iconic multilingual Cabin Crew have made Emirates one of the world’s most recognized airline brands.

Emirates has carried more than 11 million passengers on U.S. flights since launching services to New York in 2004. The airline currently serves 10 U.S. gateways – Orlando (MCO), Chicago (ORD), Boston (BOS), San Francisco (SFO), Los Angeles (LAX), Seattle (SEA), Dallas (DFW), Houston (IAH), Washington (IAD) and New York (JFK), as well as operating a trans-Atlantic route between JFK and Milan and a freighter service to Atlanta. Emirates SkyCargo transports up to 650 tons of U.S. exports each week – including auto parts from New York, apples and cherries from Seattle, and oil and gas equipment from Houston – stimulating trade and opening new markets for American businesses across the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

USA: Two Women Arrested After Razor, Pepper Spray Skirmish On JetBlue Flight

A flight arriving at JFK from Jamaica on Wednesday nearly reached the gate without incident. Instead, a fight broke out that involved two women, pepper spray and an eyebrow razor.

A fracas broke out when a 61-year-old female attempted to move from her window seat, which meant climbing over another woman (52).

Unfortunately, that is all we currently have for a set-up. The report doesn’t issue what the ensuing confrontation was about, but it does offer the results of the dramatic event that took place as JetBlue Flight 960 approached the gate.

CBS News spoke with Port Authority spokesman Joe Pentangelo and reports: “The older woman used an eyebrow razor to slash a man who tried to intervene... The younger woman then used pepper spray on the knife-wielding passenger.”

There was no word as to the extent of injuries suffered by the unnamed man who suffered the awful side of an eyebrow razor, which we suddenly learned today can be carried on a plane in certain circumstances.

The report goes on to say that six passengers suffered breathing difficulties—although reports put that number at seven.

We presume that flight felt a lot longer than it really was, ending in an onboard brouhaha between two passengers.

Now as for the respective corners in this bout, the older female was arrested for what the reports states were assault and weapons charges.

The 52-year-old who we presume was riding the middle seat the entire way was also taken into custody for possession of pepper spray.

Some of our more pressing quandaries: “WCBS 880’s Alex Silverman asked the Port Authority if it’s legal to bring eyebrow razors and pepper spray on planes. The agency said if the flight had originated in the United States, and not in Jamaica, those items would not have gotten on board.”

So continue refraining from bringing dangerous objects onto your next flight. What could have been a genteel shoving match featuring colorful language devolved into something far worse.