U.S. Flight Destinations Could Include Cuba in 2016

An agreement between the U.S. and Cuba could be imminent that would allow for regularly scheduled commercial flights between the two countries.

The Associated Press reports that American and Cuban officials said Wednesday that they had come to an understanding on key points and hoped to make a formal deal shortly.

Currently, Americans can only fly to Cuba for select purposes via charter flights or through a third country, the New York Times reports. General tourism remains off-limits.

The news of a possible impending deal to restore commercial flights between the U.S. and the Caribbean island nation is the latest to stem from President Barack Obama’s announcement last year that the U.S. would re-establish diplomatic relations with Cuba.

The U.S. Department of State announced last week that the U.S. and Cuba had “reached an understanding” to re-establish direct mail services between the two countries.

Obama announced this summer that the U.S. and Cuba would reopen embassies in each other’s capitals for the first time since 1961, when diplomatic relations between the two nations were severed during the Cold War.

Re-establishing diplomatic relations is one of several “key pillars in the president’s new approach to Cuba,” the White House noted this summer.

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