Eight new airports have been approved by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency to offer passenger charter flights to/from Cuba.
Charter flights currently operate from Los Angeles, Miami and New York LaGuardia, primarily for travel by family members to visit relatives in Cuba.
The new airports are Atlanta, Baltimore/Washington, Chicago O'Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, New Orleans, Pittsburgh, Tampa and San Juan.
Federal regulations announced in January expanded religious, academic, cultural and journalistic travel between the U.S. and Cuba.
Certain regulatory and procedural hurdles remain before charter services from the new airports can commence, according to a customs spokesperson.
In addition, charter companies wanting to offer flights have to go through an application and licensing process involving several federal agencies.