Fort Myers – Havana flights begin Nov. 2

HAVANA, Sept. 24 Southwest Florida International Airport, which had zero nonstop to Latin America six months ago, will boast three distinct routes before Thanksgiving.

On Tuesday, Miami-based Choice Aire and Lee County Port Authority confirmed Choice Aire would launch twice-weekly flights between Fort Myers and Havana, on Nov. 2.

On the upcoming Havana service, Choice Aire Charters President & CEO Danny Looney said:
-It will be year-round, and initially scheduled for Mondays and Fridays.

– It will use 126-seat jetliners and crews leased from the charter company, Swift Air.
– Introductory fares will be in the neighborhood of $450 round-trip.
– Choice Aire already provides service from Baltimore, Orlando and Miami to Havana.
– Besides Swift Air, key players in the venture include travel agencies, Por Cuba Viajo Express in Naples and Island Travel & Tours in Tampa.
– People may book flights from these agencies or directly at flychoiceaire.com.

“I’ve been doing the Cuba flights for 12, 13 years,” said Danny Looney, Choice Aire president & CEO.

The new service comes as rules for U.S. citizens traveling to Cuba are rapidly changing.

On Friday, The Associated Press reported that as of Monday, simplified procedures  for tourism, telephone and Internet investments, and money transfers to Cuba would go into effect.

Details were sketchy, however. And the report noted, “Many U.S. travelers still need to go on supervised group trips.”

Yanay Puente with the Siteseeing CUBA LLC travel agency in Naples, hadn’t heard about the Choice Aire service as of Tuesday afternoon, but added it had the potential to be “very good for us.”

Leonardo Garcia, president & CEO of the Southwest Florida-based Hispanic American Business Alliance, was delighted to hear about the latest service.
http://www.news-press.com/story/news/2015/09/22/fort-myers-florida-havana-cuba-nonstop-flights-begin-nov2/72633002/