New commercial flights mean big change for US-Cuba relations

SANTA CLARA, Cuba (AP) — It took an hour and a $330 paper check to buy the printed blue ticket for my one-way charter flight from Havana to Miami, the last I will ever take.

After more than 50 years without regular air service, Cubans will be able to visit family in the U.S. on the same commercial airlines that serve the rest of the world.

The mood aboard Wednesday's flight from Fort Lauderdale was celebratory, and tinged with imagery from the era when Cuba was the United States' tropical backyard escape.

A burly, bearded Cuban-American flight attendant almost choked up as he told us, We are really excited that this happened for Cubans and for people from the United States as well.

The Cuban and American governments publicly insist that the U.S. formal ban on tourism remains a high barrier for U.S. visitors because it requires them to engage in one of 12 legally approved categories of activities including "people-to-people" educational travel.

The requirements for guided groups were meant to guarantee that Americans engaged in meaningful contact with the Cuban people instead of supposed frivolous tourism.

Obama's abolition of the restriction creates a far bigger market for commercial flights and makes it more likely in many cases that Americans engage in truly meaningful travel.

Adventurous Americans can now fly directly to Cuba and cruise around on their own, independent of government guides and bus drivers who make sure they hew to a state-approved itinerary.