NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - Passengers have arrived in Havana, Cuba, on the first direct passenger flight from New Jersey’s Newark Liberty International Airport.
Tuesday’s inaugural departure landed in Havana around 2:30 p.m.
United Airlines is offering one flight from Newark to Havana each day as well as a Saturday-only direct service to Cuba from Houston’s Bush Intercontinental Airport.
Passenger Antonio Salazar, of Bayonne, says the roughly 3½-hour flight to visit family is great because it’s faster than flying to Miami to catch a flight.
Fellow passenger Carmenza Rodriguez, of Elizabeth, agrees and is excited to be on the first flight.
Commercial flights between the United States and Cuba resumed several months ago as relations between the two countries gradually improved under President Barack Obama.
Pure tourist travel remains illegal under U.S. regulations.
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