United Adds Daily Service Between Cuba and Houston

United Airlines announced Monday that it plans on increasing service between Houston and Havana, Cuba, beginning July 20.

Officials from United revealed the new daily service from George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Texas to Jose Martí International Airport in Havana is pending government approval.

The route would be flown with Boeing 737-800 mainline aircraft or Embraer E175 regional aircraft operated by Mesa Airlines as United Express. Tickets are now available for purchase.

The Boeing 737-800 aircraft offer 16 seats in United First and 150 seats in United Economy, including 54 extra-legroom United Economy Plus seats. On the other hand, the Embraer E175 two-cabin regional jet offers 12 seats in United First and 64 seats in United Economy, including 16 extra-legroom Economy Plus seats.

“This expansion to Havana will provide significant public benefits to our city, region, and state. As a diverse global city – in which many people speak Spanish – we are heavily reliant on international travel for our economic success,” Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said in a statement. “Worldwide access to Houston by air helps bring financial health back to Houston after Hurricane Harvey. The addition of Havana to Houstonians’ travel options will also help us build cultural bridges with our neighbor nation across the gulf.”

“United’s new daily service to Cuba will offer more opportunities to connect our customers traveling from Houston and the central and western United States directly to Havana,” United vice president Patrick Quayle said. “Houston is United’s gateway to Latin America and its convenient location offers customers easy access to connect to 44 destinations across our broad domestic network.”

Once approved, the Texas-to-Cuba route will be the only service to Havana from the entire central and western United States. United also provides daily nonstop service between New York-Newark and Havana.