CAMAGUEY.- With the arrival of Airbus 319 at the Ignacio Agramonte International Airport of the city of Camaguey, direct flights between the United States and this territory, which began almost half a century ago and were interrupted in 1961, were resumed.

American Airlines, one of the most important airlines of the northern nation, was the first to land in Camaguey soil after more than 50 years of inexistence of regular routes between the two countries as a consequence of the U.S. blockade against the island.

The flight, from Miami, Florida, has a daily frequency, which will be then joined by those of other airlines like Jet Blue, Silver Airways and Frontier Airlines, to reach some 23 operations from the United States, Silvia Ferrer, of the air terminal in Camaguey, told the press.

Leudes Escobar, director of the airport, said that before 1961 the airport received regular U.S. routes since 1926, both to bring passengers and to re-fuel to continue to South America.

After several years of interruption, charter flights began to operate in 2002, and since then they have been arriving at the airport without problems, so conditions are created to assume direct flights, pointed out Escobar.

Charter flights were very expensive. Now prices are cheaper and everything is easier and faster, so people will e able to come more frequently, explained Kenia García, a young architect of Canaguey who has been living in Los Angeles over the past four years.

The resumption of direct commercial flights between the United States and Cuba was agreed early this year as part of the process towards the normalization of relations between the two countries and will take place between five U.S. cities and nine Cuban cities.