First flight from Key West to Cuba takes off

[Serious News]

Monday's flight to Havana, the first from Key West in more than 50 years, was "just a test run," airport officials said.


KEY WEST, Fla. — The first commercial passenger flight from Key West to Cuba in more than 50 years landed Monday in Havana, capping several years of efforts to reunite the two islands, though regular air service still appeared a distant prospect.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection gave the final approval for the flight Monday morning, and the nine-passenger aircraft departed 90 minutes later at 10 a.m., Key West International Airport director Peter Horton said.

"This is just a test run," Horton said. "Whether this is going to come and be a regular service I don't believe has been determined yet."

Federal officials granted Key West the green light to resume flights to and from the island country in October 2011. It took more than two years, however, for the first flight to take off. Charter operators said they had trouble getting all of the required approvals from U.S. and Cuban authorities. They have also struggled with capacity issues: Key West is currently only approved to process 10 passengers and crew from Cuba at a time.

Cuba and Key West have a long and interwoven history. Before the 1959 revolution, there was regular flight and ferry service to the island. Residents could fly to Havana for lunch and be back in Key West in time for dinner.

The Cessna Conquest II aircraft departed the Florida island Monday carrying nine passengers, five of which planned to participate in a licensed "people-to-people" trip focusing on Cuba's culture and environment organized by the Florida Keys Tropical Research Ecological Exchange Institute.

The Obama administration reinstituted the cultural exchange licenses in 2011, allowing organizations to take U.S. citizens to the island for educational activities that promote understanding and exchange with ordinary Cubans.

The Key West travelers were scheduled to meet with Cubans at botanical gardens, organic farms and cultural centers.

"We're doing some really meaningful things there, working with botanical gardens, scientists, researchers, all the people there to help preserve their environment and ecology," said Carolann Sharkey, the institute's trip organizer.

Key West Mayor Craig Cates flew to Cuba with the group, but returned Monday without venturing beyond the Havana airport terminal.

"We're 90 miles away from Cuba," Cates said. "We're closer to Cuba than Miami. We haven't had flights over there in 50 years. It's going to be great for the city of Key West — cultural exchange, historic exchange, to be able to go back and forth directly from Key West."

http://news.msn.com/us/first-flight-...ff?ocid=msnnws

[Serious News]

http://news.msn.com/world/cubans-agh...w-law-kicks-in

HAVANA — Talk about sticker shock!

Cubans aghast at car prices as new law kicks in

A man is reflected in the window of a car dealership as he looks at the prices of new cars, seen on the documents in the window, at a government-run dealership that sells new and used vehicles in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2014. Cubans are eagerly visiting car dealerships as a new law takes effect on Friday eliminating a special permit requirement that has greatly restricted vehicle ownership in the country. To their dismay they found sharply hiked prices on the first day the law was in force. In Cuba, the government retains its monopoly on a vehicle's market value.: A man is reflected in the window of a car dealership as he looks at the prices of new cars, seen on the documents in the window, at a government-run dealership that sells new and used vehicles in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2014.

New Cuban law eliminates permit requirements for vehicle ownership but the government hiked prices sharply at dealerships.

Cubans are eagerly flocking to Havana car dealerships as a new law takes effect eliminating a special permit requirement that has greatly restricted vehicle ownership in the country. To their dismay on Friday, the first day the law was in force, they found sharply hiked prices, some of them light years beyond all but the most well-heeled islanders.

A new Kia Rio hatchback that starts at $13,600 in the United States sells for $42,000 here, while a fresh-off-the-lot Peugeot 508 family car, the most luxurious of which lists for the equivalent of about $53,000 in the U.K., will set you back a cool $262,000.

"Between all my family here in Cuba and over in Miami, we couldn't come up with that kind of money," said Gilbert Losada, a 28-year-old musical director. "We're going to wait and see if they lower the prices, which are really crazy. We're really disappointed."

Remind you of any new laws taking effect in the United States recently????? SN

[Bobcat]

Craig Cates and his brother used to race "Conch Attack" in the 80s 24 Skater.

[poncho]

We have daily flights to Cuba from Vancouver. In the late 90's my brother got a Cuban student visa and stayed a year in Cienfuegos. I visited him a few times.

[poncho]

Oh if my other lap top was still alive Id have pictures. The Cuban government sucks, but the people and discos are amazing. Got pictures of lots of 50's era cars still on the road. In that its kind of like going back in time.