The US Department of Transportation (DOT) has authorised American Airlines (AA, Dallas/Fort Worth) to resume services to five regional airports in Cuba as part of a recent policy change to once again liberalise the US-Cuba air travel market.

The carrier plans to connect Miami International with Santa Clara de Cuba (2x daily), Holguin, Varadero, Camagüey, and Santiago de Cuba (daily each). American Airlines intends to launch all five routes in early November 2022, although the DOT approval comes with a 90-day start-up window extending through early February 2023.

American Airlines has thus become the first airline authorised to resume scheduled flights between the US and regional Cuban airports, which were banned in 2019 by the Trump administration. The current Biden administration liberalised market access in June this year, permitting services to cities other than Havana International, but so far, no carrier has been granted consent to relaunch services.

The ch-aviation schedules module shows that JetBlue Airways, Southwest Airlines, and American Airlines serve Havana from various US cities.