Southwest To Begin Cuba Service In November

Rich Thomaselli
by Rich Thomaselli
Last updated: 2:13 PM ET, Fri October 14, 2016

Southwest Airlines is making its 100th destination a pretty historic event.

The carrier today announced its flight schedule of new nonstop service between Florida and Cuba, making it the ninth country and 100th destination Southwest flies to with flights to Havana, Varadero and Santa Clara.

To kick it off, Southwest is offering a special fare of $59 one-way on nonstop flights to and from Cuba. There are restrictions so call your travel agent or Southwest Airlines, or go to southwest.com/cuba. But for the most part you need a required 14-day advance purchase today through Nov. 20, 2016, 11:59 p.m. in the time zone of the originating city, for travel Nov. 13, 2016, through April 24, 2017.

"Southwest Customers can book their tickets now to travel to Cuba with our low fares and no hidden fees, bags fly free, and the best employees in the industry," Gary Kelly, Southwest Airlines' Chairman, President & CEO, said in a statement.

[READMORE]READ MORE: American Plays Game Of Cuba One Upsmanship With United[/READMORE]

Southwest service between Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and Varadero, Cuba is scheduled to begin Sunday, Nov. 13, 2016, and Havana service is scheduled to start Monday, Dec. 12, 2016, from both Fort Lauderdale and Tampa International Airport, subject to requisite approvals of the Cuban government.

Southwest officials said service details for flights to Santa Clara, Cuba will be released in the coming weeks.

"We're continuing to invest in the Sunshine State with relevant service in all eight of our Florida airports to connect Southwest customers to important things in their lives," said Steve Goldberg, Southwest Airlines' Vice President of Ground Operations, in announcing Cuba service details today at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.

Broward County's state-of-the-art, five-gate international concourse is scheduled to open next summer at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International, and to celebrate Southwest's new service the airline sent out dozens of employees to surprise local residents with $100 Southwest Airlines gift certificates to help spread awareness of the new flights.

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