Cuba Travel Services, Inc., to Relaunch Weekly Non-Stop Flights from Los Angeles to Havana June 30

WHO:

Cuba Travel Services, Inc., Licensed Travel Service Provider to Cuba under the Office of Foreign Assets and Control

WHAT:

Cuba Travel Services, Inc., to relaunch weekly non-stop flights from Los Angeles to Havana.

WHERE:

Los Angeles International Airport

Terminal: 6 (Continental Airlines Ticket Counter)

Flight: CO 1923

WHEN:

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Check-in begins at 7:30am

Flights depart at 11:00am

WHY:

To once again service the vast Cuban American constituency on the West Coast and travelers who qualify under the general license and/or are issued a specific license to travel to Cuba.

BACKGROUND: Cuba Travel Services, Inc. was forced to shut down their non-stop Los Angeles to Havana flights due to the Bush administration imposing harsh travel restrictions on family visits for Cuban Americans back in 2004. Within the first 100 days, the Obama administration reversed the Bush administration policy to allow Cuban Americans to once again visit family annually and without limitations on the definition of who is considered family. Having weekly non-stops flights also allows for more accessible and safer travel since many Cuban Americans recently have had to travel through Tijuana at a time when traveling to Tijuana can come with travel risks.

In addition to servicing the Cuban American community on the West Coast under the Office of Foreign Assets and Control and U.S. Treasury guidelines, Cuba Travel Services, Inc. will be able to provide a more accessible route and cost-effective travel services to journalists, government officials and researchers that qualify under a general license and sports teams, religious organizations, educational facilities and other organizations or individuals who qualify for and are issued a specific license to travel.

Since 2000, Cuba Travel Services, Inc. has been the first charter company to fly direct flights from Los Angeles to Havana. In 2003, the United States ranked 8th in visitors per country of origin to Cuba with 84,529 visitors, dwindling down to 37,233 in 2005 under the Bush administration’s changes to Cuban travel regulations causing a limiting of visits and a cease of direct flights from Miami, Los Angeles and New York.

Cuba Travel Services Inc. was formed by a group of Los Angeles business professionals to specifically facilitate a better understanding between the U.S. and Cuba in providing convenient and cost-effective travel to U.S. citizens who qualify under the current U.S. Treasury regulations. Cuba Travel Services Inc.’s headquarters is based in Long Beach, California and currently has offices in Hato Rey, Puerto Rico and both Doral and Hialeah, Florida. For further information on Cuba Travel Services, contact Michael Zuccato, 800-963-2822 or visit www.CubaTravelServices.com
Contacts

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Cynthia Semon
Jean Paul Zapata
CS Communications
818-788-4468
or
818-419-3694

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