US DOT allocates new Havana flights to big five carriers
The US Department of Transportation has tentatively allocated reassigned US-Havana routes with American, Delta, Southwest, JetBlue and United Airlines each getting additional flights to the Cuban capital.
As expected, most of the additional frequencies are centered on the South Florida market.
American is adding an fifth daily flight on the Miami-Havana route and Delta will add a second daily Miami-Havana flight.
Southwest Airlines has been offered an additional slot for Fort Lauderdale-Havana flights and JetBlue gets an extra six flights a week on the same route.
JetBlue would also have approval to fly once a week on Saturdays to Havana from Boston.
Finally, United Airlines’ weekly Houston flight to Havana gets a major boost, with frequencies jumping to daily service.
The extra capacity was made available after a spate of route cancelations from the likes of Frontier Airlines, Spirit Airlines and Alaska Airlines overestimating long term viability of certain routes.
The DOT partly allocated the new frequencies on the ability of carriers to maintain long term service, as well as ensuring sufficient market competition.
"Carriers have been adjusting schedules and capacity, and some have left the market altogether," the DOT said.
"Adding to the still evolving nature of the market the administration announced a change in its policy toward Cuba and implemented regulations that, among other things, ended the widely used authorization for ‘individual people-to-people’ travel to Cuba."
The addition services must be implemented within 90 days of final approval, the DOT says, and other carriers have two weeks to lodge any opposition with the DOT against the tentative allocations.
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