FedEx first U.S. airfreight carrier to Cuba

The U.S. Department of Transportation has granted FedEx’s uncontested application to the rights to operate a five-times-weekly freighter service between Miami, Fla. and the city of Matanzas in Cuba.    As the United States continues to normalize relations with Cuba, FedEx will be the first all-cargo airline to operate service to and from Cuba.
   The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) earlier this week granted the parcel giant’s uncontested application to the rights to operate a five-times-weekly freighter service between Miami, Fla. and the city of Matanzas in Cuba.
   Under the DOT filing, FedEx will commence the service Jan. 15, 2017, with the rights extending through July 15, 2018. The company originally applied to operate a five-times-weekly Miami-Havana-Mérida-Miami route, using 757-200Fs, but amended it to the current, shorter routing last month.
   According to a report in the Cuban news outlet Martí, FedEx plans to operate a single-engine, propeller-drive Cessna 208 aircraft on the route, a much smaller plane than the Boeing 757 that was initially proposed for the Miami-Havana route.
   DOT earlier this month proposed a selection of eight U.S. airlines to start scheduled flights from various airports around the United States to Havana in the fall.
   Formerly known as Varadero Airport, Juan Gualberto Gómez Airport (VRA) is located 140 kilometers from the Cuban capital of Havana. VRA is Cuba’s second-busiest airport, handling 1.28 million passengers in 2009, according to its website, but has only one terminal and is relatively undeveloped, meaning it does not have the capacity to handle large cargo volumes.
   With the addition of the FedEx service and increased passenger traffic from the U.S., however, this could change in the near future.