U.S., Cuba may reach aviation deal this year, official says

PanARMENIAN.Net - Cuba and the United States advanced toward restoring scheduled airline service during two days of talks that concluded in Havana on Tuesday, September 29 with the potential to reach a deal this year, a U.S. official said, according to Reuters.

"One more meeting might be enough to finalize an arrangement. I can't be sure," said the U.S. official, who was familiar with the talks and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The two sides planned to meet again, possibly before the end of this year and most likely in Washington, the official told Reuters.

Scheduled commercial airline service has been suspended for decades as a result of Cold War animosity, but both sides quickly made resumption a priority upon detente last December.

Charter flights have long connected the United States and Cuba. Then Washington initiated new rules in January that more easily permit U.S. airlines to fly to Cuba.

However, U.S. and Cuban officials first need to negotiate a new arrangement before restarting scheduled service in which customers could book travel directly with airlines.

After that informal deal is reached, the two sides have agreed to work on updating a 1953 civil aviation agreement that is still valid but obsolete.

General U.S. tourism to Cuba is banned by the U.S. trade embargo of Cuba but certain Americans are allowed to go on specially sanctioned travel.

U.S. President Barack Obama has relaxed those restrictions, leading to a boom in U.S. citizen travel to Cuba, which is up more than 60 percent this year with 106,607 Americans arriving as of Sept. 20.

The market would grow further if the U.S. Congress were to lift either the tourism ban or the embargo.