Tampa-Cuba Air Flights approved by Obama

Tampa Bay Business Journal

by Mark Holan, Jane Meinhardt, Alexis Muellner

Date: Friday, January 14, 2011, 5:23pm EST - Last Modified: Friday, January 14, 2011, 6:18pm EST

See also: White House Press release on new executive order regarding Cuba.

Direct air travel between Tampa and Cuba is able to begin now that the Obama administration has approved it, Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Tampa, said Friday.

“I am confident Tampa International Airport will be first in line to apply for final approval for expanded eligibility,” Castor said in a written statement.

Residents and business interests in the Tampa Bay area have supported allowing charter flights from Tampa to Cuba. The region is home to a large percentage of Cuban-Americans.

“This is great news from an international air service development standpoint,” said Joe Lopano, chief executive officer of Tampa International. “We will begin meeting with air charter companies and working with the federal authorities to make sure we meet all requirements for these Cuba flights.”

Both Al Austin, chairman of Tampa International Airport, and Castor stressed the potential for economic impact.

“These new flights open up economic development opportunities for the entire community,” Austin said.

They open doors to create jobs in our community and plan for economic growth in our region, Castor said.

Tampa entrepreneur Jason Busto hailed the news as “a great day for Tampa.”

“The business opportunities are tremendous,” said Busto, a long-time advocate of direct flights from TIA and publisher of the Cuba Standard, a Cuba business and economic news publication. “It’s very exciting. We’ve finally reconnected to Cuba.”

Busto estimated charter flights will begin operating in a matter of a month or so. No federally licensed Cuba charter company currently flies out of the airport, but he expects that to change when Miami charter operations expand to Tampa.

Busto gave much of the credit for the TIA Cuba flights authorization to the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce, which lobbied Washington for the flights.

Gulfstream International, which does fly out of TIA, runs Cuba charter flights out of Miami. The company is the process of Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization.

In 2009, President Obama issued an executive order to lift travel restrictions on family travel to Cuba and to increase the amount of monetary remittance that families could send to relatives in Cuba, the statement said. Since then Castor has actively encouraged the administration to designate Tampa International Airport as an entry/exit point.

Jose Valiente, former chairman of the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce and a principal at the CPA firm LarsonAllen LLP, credited Castor’s efforts to champion and push for the flights.

Advocates for the flights had heard an announcement would be coming before the end of the year, Valiente said. “It went silent for a while, but there was work going on behind the scenes.”

There was concern from the Republican side that this could be seen as a concession to Cuba, Valiente said. “Absolutely not. It’s a concession to the Tampa community and diverts traffic from Miami.”

Despite an election in which staunch anti-Castro candidates were elected, the action today didn’t require their votes.

“It needed only the signature of the president’s pen. He finally came through,” Valiente said.

“It’s another block on the bridge that needs to be rebuilt,” he said. “It’s a day of celebration. I was [in Cuba] a year ago this week and the Cuban people there want nothing more than to be friends with the United States. It’s about time.”

“It’s a win-win for the entire community," Valiente said. “People who travel there save a lot of money not having to go to Miami.”