Government OKs charter flights to Cuba from Fort Lauderdale

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Sun-Sentinel

Government OKs charter flights to Cuba from Fort Lauderdale
By Doreen Hemlock, SunSentinel
5:14 p.m. EST, March 10, 2011

Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport has received U.S. government approval to offer charter flights to Cuba and could see twice-a-week service as early as this spring, officials said Thursday.

Charter provider Airline Brokers Co. of Coral Gables aims to mobilize an A320 aircraft with a capacity for 150 passengers to offer the flights from Fort Lauderdale starting in June or this summer, said company president Vivian Mannerud. ABC now offers seven flights a week from Miami to Cuba.

"The costs are less to operate at Fort Lauderdale airport than Miami, and that's a good thing," Mannerud said in explaining the expansion plans. "And we have a lot of Cuban-American families that have migrated north to the West Palm Beach area, and this would make it easier for them to travel to Cuba."

Fort Lauderdale joins at least 11 other U.S. airports now authorized to offer charters for Cuban-Americans and others approved to visit Cuba despite a U.S. embargo on trade and travel to the communist-led island.



Read more: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/fl-cuba-flights-lauderdale-20110310,0,5585597.story