The White House campaign to thaw relations with Cuba is not only sparking new interest in travel there, but also is gradually easing the process of getting there. However, trade and travel restrictions remain.

On August 14 Secretary of State John Kerry raised the flag of the U.S. Embassy in Havana, Cuba, for the first time in 54 years. That act was symbolic of the renewing of relations that President Barack Obama set in motion last year. Obama announced in December that he planned to take a number of initiatives to re-establish ties with the Caribbean nation and facilitate travel and trade. These initiatives have had a direct effect on business aircraft travel there.

Specifically, two key changes have eased the process for passengers and operators. The first, which came earlier this year, involved a regulatory change that essentially eliminated a requirement for passengers to obtain a license through the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control before travelling to Cuba.

The second significant change came on July 21. The White House removed Cuba from the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism. One of the results of this action was the elimination of a requirement for operators to obtain a temporary sojourn license from the U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) before flying to Cuba.

That was a major step for operators. “The approval process has been difficult,” said Doug Carr, vice president of regulatory and international affairs for NBAA, who added that it used to take some operators several months to obtain a temporary sojourn license.

As the White House has taken these steps, the number of parties interested in traveling to Cuba by private aircraft or charter has picked up notably, said Keith Foreman, a master trip support specialist for Universal Weather & Aviation. In fact, Foreman noted that he is often spending anywhere from half the day to the entire day working with parties making inquiries about Cuba travel. The issue has begun to attract so much interest that Universal is planning to hold an informational session at the upcoming NBAA Convention to discuss it.

Eying a new market, Jim Parker, owner of Caribbean Flying Adventures, launched a Cuba flight-planning service and Cuba escort travel service during EAA AirVenture at Oshkosh, Wis., this summer. Almost immediately, Parker had 500 aircraft owners ready to sign up, he said.

Carr noted that operators and travelers have been laying the groundwork for travel to Cuba for some time. “People are trying to get ahead of the curve for when the restrictions relax,” he said, noting that NBAA gets calls weekly from interested parties.

Priester Aviation is among the operators that recently undertook the extensive and timely process to receive FAA approval for travel to Cuba. This was done even though the charter and management firm hadn’t previously received a huge influx of requests.  “Although Priester had not experienced a huge demand for flights to Cuba, we wanted to be in a position that allows our clients to be restriction-free,” said Cory Ruffolo, vice president of marketing for Priester.

But the interest level changed after Priester announced it had obtained U.S. government approval. “We received an inflow of trip requests. We are still experiencing flow of inquiries daily,” Ruffolo said, adding that interest comes from both aircraft owners and would-be travelers. Within the first several weeks of receiving clearance, Priester began planning the first three trips in and out of Cuba.

NBAA has called the changes “historic in terms of future diplomatic relations between the two countries,” but has also cautioned, “Cuba is not open for U.S. business or U.S. investment, and U.S. citizens remain prohibited from traveling to Cuba as tourists.”

Despite the significant steps toward the opening of channels between the U.S. and Cuba, the trade embargo remains in place and White House actions did not lift existing restrictions on travel; those actions would require congressional action.

  Travel remains limited to 12 categories related to education, research, athletics/public performance, humanitarian, missions, journalistic activity, government business, and certain export transactions such as information exchange, among others. But the information exchange does provide an opening for more travel to Cuba, Parker said. Travelers must have planned activities on that front, he said, but it is easier now to get there.

 Charter To/From Cuba

Charter operators also must still have the U.S. FAA add Cuba into their approved operations specifications. To obtain Ops Spec approval, Priester needed to work with the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, along with its local FAA Flight Standards District Office in Chicago and FAA headquarters in Washington, D.C., to satisfy all the necessary requirements, Ruffolo said.

Flights to and from the U.S. must go through one of about 20 “portal” airports,  and commercial and private operations must secure landing permits from Cuba. But the landing permissions have changed. Once limited to passenger drop-off and pick-up only, aircraft are now permitted to stay one night and are authorized to make one flight while in Cuba, Foreman said.

Requirements for travel to Cuba remain dynamic. “It is all changing,” Parker said, noting that regulators are still catching up to the changed requirements alongside operators and travelers. Foreman met with Commerce Department officials in mid-August, when they advised of the changes in temporary sojourn licensing requirements and the landing permissions. Because the situation is so fluid, Foreman recommended that operators and passengers check the requirements before each trip and possibly even obtain legal advice in case the parameters change.

More changes could be on the horizon. At least three bills have been floating around Congress to ease the travel and trade restrictions, but it is not yet known when or if action will be taken.

 Limiting Factors

As more people seek to travel to Cuba, there are several outstanding concerns. While most business aviation traffic goes into Havana, Cuba has a number of other airports. But much of the infrastructure there remains an unknown. “We don’t know the reliability because no one has traveled there,” said Universal’s Foreman.

Also, he noted, access to parts for an AOG is one of the top concerns. Parts are not readily available, and the export of replacement parts for aircraft repair had not been authorized. This is one of the issues that the industry has been working with the U.S. government to try to remedy.

Further, many insurance carriers have restrictions in their policies against Cuba travel. This is something all operators need to check before traveling, Foreman said. He advises operators and travelers to keep an extensive paper trail for travel to Cuba. The U.S. government can always go back and check to make sure travel was for intended purposes, he warned. Violators could face stiff penalties.

Parker also cautioned that hotel space is severely limited as the number of travelers has increased. His first expedition was pending the availability of hotel rooms.

But Foreman is not as concerned about the permitting on Cuba’s end. This process could take as little as a few hours in cases of emergency to two to three days for the typical permits. “Cuba has always been receptive and welcoming,” he said, adding that the stumbling blocks have been on the U.S. government’s end.