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Charter airlines say end to restrictions could boost Miami-Cuba traffic by 50%

Cuba News, March, 2009 by Larry Luxner

Air charter companies that were nearly decimated five years ago, when the Bush administration made it next to impossible for Cuban-Americans to visit family on the island, say business will take off once President Obama lifts those restrictions as promised.

But how much it’ll take off is anybody’s guess.

“There will be an increase, even with the economic situation we’re confronting,” said Armando Garcia, president of Marazul Tours.

“During the last five years, illegal travel has increased tremendously, but we were not participating in that market,” Garcia told CubaNews in a phone interview from Miami.

“Once Obama lifts the restrictions for Cuban-Americans, it’s going to take some time for this market to get organized in a legal way. According to my calculations, close to 45% or 50% of all travelers are flying to Cuba illegally through third countries. And this market, which is already established, is not going to disappear immediately,” said Garcia.

Marazul, which marks its 30th anniversary this year, has been in business the longest of the seven air-charter companies licensed by the U.S. Treasury Department to fly passengers between Miami and Havana.

Thomas L. Cooper, president of the international division of Gulfstream Air Charter, says that among the seven charters, Wilson International ranks first place in passenger volume to Cuba, followed by Gulfstream, with ABC Charters and Xael tied for third place.

“What happens all depends on the degree of elimination of the restrictions,” Cooper told us.

“If Obama simply turns back the regulations to pre-2004, when Bush tightened them, it’s my estimation that the market will increase by about 40-50%. You’d think it would increase 75%, but there’s a lot of traffic going between the U.S. and Cuba on religious licenses, and if you qualify for such a license, then you’re not bound by the once-every-three-year rule.”

In 2004, then-President Bush–acting by executive decree at the behest of the most hardline elements within the South Florida exile community–toughened up the travel rules in an effort to deprive Cuba’s communist regime of dollars.

Among other things, it changed the regulations to allow family visits once every three years instead of once a year; restricted those visits to immediate family members (excluding aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and cousins) and severely limited the length of visits and amount of money that could be spent during the visits (see box, below right).

As a result, in 2008 Marazul processed just under 15,000 Cuba-bound passengers, compared to 45,000 to 50,000 in 2003, the year before the new regulations took effect.

“Since the regulations were enacted, it’s created a boom in illegal travel to Cuba,” said Garcia, who was born in Cuba and left the island with his parents at the age of 10.

PLAYING BY THE BOOK MAKES THINGS HARDER

“When you consider the need for families to see each other, it was obvious that people were going to violate the regulations–either by going through a third country, or abusing the different types of travel licenses available.”

For now, said Garcia, Marazul has 30-40% of the legal market. “Before 2004, we probably had close to 25% of it, but now the legal market is much smaller.” He added: “Marazul does everything legally and we comply with all U.S. regulations, so it’s been very hard for us to survive–but we were able to do it. Because of the fact we’ve been around for so many years, people trust us.”

With three retail offices in Miami and one in New Jersey, Marazul not only uses its own charter but buys space from the other six companies. It also organizes flights to Nassau, Cancun, Toronto and Montreal for passengers who already have licenses to travel to Cuba.

Besides Miami-Havana flights Fridays and Sundays, Marazul also offers direct flights on Saturdays between Miami and Camaguey. Marazul charges $519 round-trip to Havana, and $599 round-trip to Camaguey.

Maria Teresa Aral, vice-president of ABC Charters, was rather cautious in her assessment of the “what-if” potential awaiting her troubled industry.

“If Obama issues an executive order to lift the travel restrictions [for Cuban-Americans], we would go back at least to the levels we were at in 2004,” she said. “Hopefully, we’d be able to hire more employees, provide more service and reunite more families. But to surpass 2004 levels, Cuba would have to lift some of its own restrictions.”

Aral said the Cuban government prohibits any citizen who left the island illegally after September 1994 to return for a visit
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