The United States and Cuba have agreed to restore scheduled commercial airline services between the two countries, the US State Department has said on the one-year anniversary of the Cold War foes' decision to normalise relations.
The deal, the result of months of negotiations, paves the way for US airlines to sell flights to Cuba directly from their websites and for greater tourism and business on the communist-ruled island.
Scheduled commercial flight services had been suspended for decades as a result of Cold War animosity, although charter flights connected the countries in the interim.
The State Department on Thursday said in a statement the arrangement "will continue to allow charter operations and establish scheduled air service, which will facilitate an increase in authorised travel, enhance traveller choices and promote people-to-people links between the two countries."
President Barack Obama relaxed travel restrictions to Cuba earlier this year. That has led to a boom in US citizens' visits to Cuba, which are up 71 per cent this year, with 138,120 Americans arriving over the first 11 months.
