Icelandair applies to DOT for more than 184 charter flights to Havana

Icelandair Flights To Cuba Encounter Some Turbulence

HAVANA, Jan. 5th Icelandair has applied to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) for 276 charter flights from Florida and Texas to Cuba, Dominican Republic, and Ecuador in partnership with Anmart Superior Travel, a travel agency dedicated to operating package tours in the Caribbean and South America.

On September 14, 2021, Icelandair had applied to the DOT with registration DOT-OST-2020-0011-0203 to operate a weekly flight for 13 weeks between October 5 to December 28 between Orlando (MCO) – Havana (HAV) under charter mode.

In the application filed under DOT-OST-2017-0044-0874, the Icelandic airline has proposed the following series of charter flights:

From January 11, 2022, to February 1, 2022.

  • Orlando (MCO) – Havana, Cuba (HAV) 4 roundtrip flights.

From February 1, 2022, to May 31, 2022

  • Orlando (MCO) – Havana, Cuba (HAV) 17 roundtrip flights.
  • Houston (IAH) – Havana, Cuba (HAV) 17 roundtrip flights.
  • Miami (MIA) – Havana, Cuba (HAV) 136 roundtrip flights.

The application is pending governmental approval. The flights could be operated between Boeing 757 and 737 MAX aircraft.

Upon this request by Iceland’s flag carrier, several U.S. airlines filed complaints with the DOT, stating that priority should be given to domestic operators to perform these flights.

Swift Air, in conjunction with iAero Airways, submitted a complaint to the DOT filed under DOT-OST-2020-0011-0259, stating that the restrictions imposed by the Cuban government block the opportunity for U.S. operators to take advantage of available capacity.

iAero Airways states it has decades of experience operating charter routes between the U.S. and Cuba and has the personnel necessary to service charter flights between the two nations. Global X Airlines recently joined Swift’s complaint in response to Icelandair’s request. (www.aviacionline.com)

/by