JetBlue’s first commercial flight to Cuba will take off from JFK Airport for Havana on Monday – an aviation milestone that will now be without the cheery fanfare scheduled before the death of Fidel Castro.
Flight 243 was scheduled to depart at 8:58 a.m. and land in the Cuban capital a little over four hours later.
The Queens-based airline announced Monday that it was canceling a 7 a.m. music and dance concert planned at JFK because of Castro’s death on Friday at age 90, WNBC reported.
Thousands are expected to pay tribute to Castro on Monday at Havana’s Revolution Square, kicking off a week-long farewell to Cuba’s polarizing revolutionary leader.
The island nation’s people are observing nine days of mourning for Castro, including a three-day journey by his ashes along the route taken by the rebel army he led on a victorious march across the country in 1959.
Along with JetBlue, American Airlines also flew the first regularly scheduled flight to Cuba when a Boeing 737 carrying 145 passengers took off from Miami for Havana on Monday morning.
As passengers waited at the gate, the airline treated them to pastelitos, cupcakes emblazoned with the airline logo, and coffee, the Miami Herald reported.
In July, JetBlue began its first direct service between the Cold War adversaries in more than 50 years with a chartered flight to Havana.
JetBlue also plans to launch its twice-daily service from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport to Havana on Wednesday and from Orlando on Tuesday, the Herald reported.
Spirit Airlines and Frontier Airlines will begin service from Fort Lauderdale on Thursday, and Delta Air Lines will also launch service from JFK, Miami and Atlanta on Thursday.
Southwest will begin offering service from Fort Lauderdale to Havana on Dec. 12.
The new flights are part of the Obama’s administration’s opening toward Cuba, but their future could hit turbulence depending on President-elect Donald Trump’s policies toward Cuba.
He has said he would scale back President Obama’s overtures unless Cuba makes political changes.
With Post Wires