American Airlines to offer charter flights to Cuba

American Airlines is planning to offer charter flights to Cuba, the Los Angeles Times reports. 

The company is planning to fly a Boeing 737 from Los Angeles International Airport to Havana on Saturdays beginning in December, according to the report. 

The announcement follows a controversial effort by the Obama administration to normalize relations with Cuba, ending a diplomatic stalemate between the island nation and the U.S. that had lasted for more than 50 years. 

{mosads}The newspaper reported American said it could eventually offer commercial flights to Cuba if Congress fully lifts the travel ban.

“We stand ready to offer scheduled service as soon as the United States and Cuba allow commercial flights,” Art Torno, a senior vice president at American Airlines, said in a statement according to the report.

During President Obama’s first term, the administration began approving flights to the Communist nation from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport and Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.

The move to normalize relations with Cuba this year includes permitting every type of travel possible under existing legislation, according to administration officials.

The administration alone cannot completely lift the travel ban, but a senior official said the White House will be “authorizing as much travel as we possibly can.”