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• Personalities
• 03 / 30 / 2010

Cubans living in the United States are flying to the island in rising numbers, taking advantage of the relaxation in travel regulations, the Mexican newspaper La Jornada reports.

Str From Miami alone, Marazul Charters carried about 20,000 passengers in January and almost 22,000 in February. The number in March "is skyrocketing and we think it could reach 24,000," says Armando García, the company's president.

"I estimate that about 300,000 people will travel to the island from Miami this year," he told the newspaper.

According to official figures, 2,400,000 visitors arrived in the island last year. García estimates that about 200,000 of them went from the United States.

So far this year, Miami-Havana travel has accounted for up to 50 flights a week; Miami-to-the-provinces (Camagüey, Cienfuegos, Holguín and Santiago de Cuba), for up to 13 flights a week.

Vivian Mannerud of Airline Brokers told La Jornada that business so far this year has been double what she expected. "I don't know what we'll see in the summer. It's going to be madness," she said.

Por: Renato Pérez Pizarro.

Source: miamiherald.typepad.com/cuban_colada/