Southwest Airlines Lands in Varadero, Warms Up for Havana Flights

Just weeks before Southwest Airlines will begin offering nonstop flights from Tampa to Havana, the first flight from the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area went off without a hitch.

Southwest joined JetBlue and American Airlines on Sunday in offering regular flights from the Miami area to Cuba following the historic thaw in relations that began two years ago and culminated with the re-opening of embassies that had been shuttered for more than five decades in the United States and its island neighbor.

The Sunday, Nov. 13, inaugural flight departed from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport at 11:05 a.m. and touched down less than an hour later in Varadero, a resort town in the province of Matanzas.

The airline told Patch that 143 passengers made the maiden flight along with a five-member Southwest crew — all decked out in Cuban-style hats as the aircraft pulled away to an orchestra playing Caribbean music and a drumroll

“By the end of this year we’ll offer six daily round trips between two Florida gateways and three Cuban cities as the work continues to open a new, five-gate international concourse here in Fort Lauderdale next summer,” said Steve Goldberg, the company’s vice president of ground operations and executive ambassador to Florida in announcing the new service.

Service from Tampa International Airport to Havana is set to begin on Dec. 12 subject to final approval from the Cuban government. The airline will begin once daily flights from Fort Lauderdale to Santa Clara, Cuba on Dec. 15, also subject to approvals.