• Submitted by: manso
• Business and Economy
• 12 / 24 / 2010

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Just in time for Christmas travel, the Instituto de Aeronáutica Civil reopened Terminal 2 of José Martí International Airport in Havana on Dec. 24.

The terminal, for U.S. charter flights from Miami, New York and Los Angeles, had been undergoing extensive renovations and expansion. In the meantime, U.S. travelers were funneled through Terminal 5, a small and dated facility.

The first four flights from the United States were expected to bring passengers to the new Terminal 2 on Christmas day; some U.S. flights will still be directed to Terminal 5, “until further notice,” according to an announcement by the IAC published in Granma.

Thanks to an easing of family travel restrictions by the Obama Administration, the United States has become the fastest-growing source market for visitors to Cuba. Thanks to a strong November, the number of visitors through the first 11 months of the year is up 4 percent over the same period last year, the Oficina Nacional de Estadística reported this week.

Through the end of November, 2.268 million visitors arrived on the island, 86,000 more than last year. In November, more than 200,000 visitors arrived, up 10 percent from last year and breaking all previous records.

Growth plans for 2011 are ambitious. According to figures released by Economy Minister Marino Murillo during the year-end session of the parliament, the government expects the number of visitors to grow 10.3 percent, and tourism revenues to make a 29.5-percent leap.

Source: www.cubastandard.com/2010/12/24/u-s-terminal-at-havana-airport-reopens/