flanneruk

On a recent flight in a US-operated plane between Miami and Central America, I was flabbergasted to see Havana a few miles to our left and to hear the captain announcing we were in Cuban airspace.

Surely all countries charge airlines for using their airspace? So does the US prevent its citizens from buying Cuban cigars, while allowing its airlines to pay Castro's air traffic controllers? Or is there some long-standing treaty that allows the US overflying rights for free?

dfr4848

I'm not sure of the answer, but am not aware of any agreement in which countries pay for using another country's airspace. Most of the arrangements are done by reciprocal treaties, but not sure what the arrangement is with Cuba/US. Whatever the reason, US airlines have been flying over Cuban airspace for decades. Several times we've changed in MIA going to the Caymans and have always flown over Cuba.

rkkwan

Russia earns a lot of money for overflying rights for Asia-Europe and US-Asia routes.

A recent article on WSJ explains how airlines calculate their cost and therefore the route from US to Europe, and one of the major factor is fees for overflying Canada. So, some flights will actually fly a more southerly route, despite being longer and burn more fuel, to shorter the distance they fly over Canada.

As for southbound flights out of MIA, here's an exmaple:

flightaware.com/live/flight/AAL969/history/20070422/1503Z/KMIA/MNMG

Clearly cut through Cuba. And there are more contact between US and Cuba than many people may think. AA flies to HAV regularly at least once a week:

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/AAL9471

And many other flights between MIA and HAV too.

flanneruk

Well, a bit of googling produces this:

"The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the United States Department of the Treasury permits United States-based airlines to make overflight payments to the Institute of Civil Aeronautics (IACC) of the Republic of Cuba. Such payments total approximately US$6 million annually and are paid by United States-based airlines including Houston, Texas-based Continental Airlines, Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, Texas-based American Airlines, and Elk Grove Township, Illinois-based United Airlines, among others."

Funny world, isn't it?

gail

I was similarly surprised to see Cuba very close by on a recent Western Caribbean cruise - and even more surprised to see mountains on the island.