Tampa sends off first flight to Cuba

It has been almost two years since the United States and Cuba entered into a new era of thawing relations.

And in March of this year, there were the first direct mail flights between the two countries in 50 years. And the first commercial flight from the U.S. to Havana took off from Fort Lauderdale in August.

Today, Tampa International Airport joined the celebrations. Southwest Airlines launched its first flight to Havana from Tampa.

Only 20 daily non-stop flights are being permitted from the U.S. to the Cuban capital and 14 will be from Florida, out of Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa and Orlando. The remaining six flights will connect Havana with Atlanta, Charlotte, Houston, Los Angeles, Newark and New York.

The inaugural Tampa to Havana flight took off at 6:15 a.m.

Until now, Tampa has only had expensive charter flights to Cuba. Now, travelers can fly for as cheap as $150 round trip from Tampa to Havana.

Southwest is offering one nonstop flight daily.

A passport is required.

The U.S. government also requires that every passenger certify that they are eligible to travel to Cuba under one of 12 general license categories or a specific license.

This includes family visits, educational visits or humanitarian projects.

This story was originally published December 12, 2016 at 6:51 AM with the headline "Tampa sends off first flight to Cuba."