Cuba By Way of Southwest

I’m planning on going to Cuba soon.  Yes Cuba!  I’m doing a lot of research so I’m going to share info I’ve found for other looking to travel to this hot new location.

 

The number one question I’m asking myself what city to visit in Cuba how to get there?!

When I visit Cuba I plan on visit a larger city.  A larger city at this time is just the wiser choice for a person traveling by themselves or not part of a tourist group.

The ten largest cities in Cuba

City Population Province
1 Havana* 2,135,498 Havana*
2 Santiago de Cuba* 425,851 Santiago de Cuba*
3 Camagüey* 305,845 Camagüey*
4 Holguín* 277,050 Holguín*
5 Guantánamo 207 857 Guantánamo
6 Santa Clara* 205,812 Villa Clara*
7 Las Tunas 153,982 Las Tunas
8 Bayamo 147,563 Granma*
9 Cienfuegos* 144,207 Cienfuegos*
10 Pinar del Río 137,523 Pinar del Río

*The city or province has an airport in 

Now that we have some city options we need to know where the airports are and who flies there.

021616-Cuba-Flights

Havana will without a doubt be the number one location to visit in Cuba.  But there are offer location that will other a great Cuban experience.

City served

Province

ICAO

IATA

Airport name

Public airports

Camagüey

Camagüey

MUCM

CMW

Ignacio Agramonte International Airport

Cayo Coco

Ciego de Ávila

MUCC

CCC

Jardines del Rey Airport

Cayo Largo del Sur

Isla de la Juventud

MUCL

CYO

Vilo Acuña Airport (Juan Vitalio Acuña Airport)

Cienfuegos

Cienfuegos

MUCF

CFG

Jaime González Airport

Havana

Havana

MUHA

HAV

José Martí International Airport

Holguín

Holguín

MUHG

HOG

Frank País Airport

Manzanillo

Granma

MUMZ

MZO

Sierra Maestra Airport

Santa Clara

Villa Clara

MUSC

SNU

Abel Santamaría Airport

Santiago de Cuba

Santiago de Cuba

MUCU

SCU

Antonio Maceo Airport

Varadero

Matanzas

MUVR

VRA

Juan Gualberto Gómez Airport

Applications from six U.S. carriers to serve some of Cuba’s other nine international airports were approved in full, handing awards to American Airlines, Frontier Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Silver Airways, Southwest Airlines Co. and Sun Country Airlines.  The winning airlines are required to begin their flights within 90 days of the start dates in their applications, which suggests services will begin this fall or winter.

Cuban airports are open to as many as 10 daily round-trip flights from the U.S., airlines can apply at any time for the additional routes.

My airline of choice is Southwest.  They offer the must customer friendly prices and over all customer service.  They’ll be flying later this year to Santa Clara and Varadero Airport.  They’re awaiting a decision on its Havana application.

With Cuba being a new location for the regular travelers where to stay is a huge question that’s still being answered.  Cuba isn’t really ready for a full on slot of American tourist just yet.  So the next question will be where to say?!

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