U.S. approves six airlines to begin scheduled service to Cuba

WASHINGTON, June 10 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Department of Transportation said Friday it has approved six domestic airlines to begin scheduled flights between five U.S. cities and Cuba as early as this fall.

"Last year, President Obama announced that it was time to 'begin a new journey' with the Cuban people," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx in a statement. "Today, we are delivering on his promise by re-launching scheduled air service to Cuba after more than half a century."

The carriers receiving the awards are American Airlines, Frontier Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Silver Airways, Southwest Airlines, and Sun Country Airlines, said the statement.

The five U.S. cities that will receive new scheduled service to Cuba are Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Chicago, Minneapolis/St. Paul, and Philadelphia.

The nine Cuban cities are Camaguey, Cayo Coco, Cayo Largo, Cienfuegos, Holguin, Manzanillo, Matanzas, Santa Clara, and Santiago de Cuba.

In February, Cuba and the United States signed an agreement to resume daily commercial flights between the two countries for the first time in more than 50 years.

Under the new arrangement, each country has the opportunity to operate up to 10 daily roundtrip flights between the U.S. and each of Cuba's nine international airports, other than Havana, for a total of 90 daily roundtrips.