Miami (Florida) [United States]: The United States and Cuba expanded air links on Monday, kicking off direct flights to Havana for the first time in more than 50 years.
The departure of an American Airlines flight from Miami at 7:30 a m came just days after the death of former Cuban leader Fidel Castro at age 90.
In New York, the first JetBlue Airways flight bound for Havana departed an hour and a half later.
Air travel between the United States and Cuba had been restricted to charter flights from 1979 until earlier this year.
Direct commercial flights began on August 31, linking several US airports with nine Cuban cities, many of them in or near tourism hotspots.
There are now 110 daily flights from the United States to Cuba, 20 of them to Havana. (ANI)