Silver Airways continue to cut flights to Cuba

Silver Airways would be the second US airline to cut its travel to Cuba early next year, according to a Travel Weekly report.

Between January and February, the airline will reduce the number of flights to six of its nine destinations in Cuba.

The frequency of flights from Fort Lauderdale to Camaguey will be reduced from five trips per week to three; To Cayo Coco, from three weeks to two; To Holguín, to three weekly instead of one daily; To Manzanillo, of three weekly will be reduced to two; And Varadero of four weekly will stay in three. Flights to Santiago will be reduced from one daily to only three per week, according to the report.

“As with our entire network and all airlines, seasonal scheduling adjustments are common to better respond to demand,” Silver Airways told the CTN News in a statement.

At the moment, the airline is satisfied with the number of flights to the island.

Stating that”particularly considering that many of the major travel agencies on the internet have not yet begun selling US flights to Cuba.”

As more distribution channels open to Cuba, “we will re-evaluate the individual route frequencies at that time,” the statement said.

Silver Airways began regular flights to the island last September. The airline does not offer flights to Havana.

The reduction in Silver Airways flights follows in the footsteps of American Airlines which announced in November that it would cut nearly a quarter of its commercial flights to Cuba next year due to poor demand. American, the airline with the most flights to the island had scheduled five daily flights to Havana and 56 weekly flights to other cities on the island. But after a month in operations many of the flights came out with half the empty seats.

In February, Cuba and the US reestablished commercial air service between the two countries after five decades, allowing up to 110 daily flights. The agreement excluded charter flights already operating from the US to the island. With a flight from Fort Lauderdale to Santa Clara in August, JetBlue made the first commercial flight to the island. That same day eight airlines received authorization from the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) to fly between 10 US cities and Havana.

With the new options, several airlines substantially reduced ticket prices to Cuba with JetBlue and Southwest even offering rates of less than $ 60.

However, travel for tourism purposes to the island is still prohibited by the embargo, and passengers living in the US who are not Cuban must obtain a visa that costs an additional $ 50. The trip must be justified under one of 12 categories established by the US Treasury Department.

This article was contributed by ABEL FERNÁNDEZ and YOU CAN FOLLOW HIM ON TWITTER @ABELFGLEZ

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