Havana, Jan. 6 — The U.S. airline Alaska Air began flying commercially to Cuba Thursday with daily flights linking Seattle, Washington and Los Angeles, California with the Cuban capital of La Havana, following the resumption of regular flights between the two countries in August 2016 after half a century.

The new route makes Alaska Air the eighth airline authorized to operate regular flights to Cuba by the United States administration led by Barack Obama, who leaves office on Jan. 20.

Francisco Albiter, the operator’s general manager for Mexico and Costa Rica, said in the Cuban capital this route has “significant market potential,” given that Los Angeles and the U.S. West Coast are home to not only the third-largest community of Cuban-Americans, but also a sizeable U.S. population interested in cultural ties with the island.

Albiter told local media that public response has been very favorable and exceeded expectations, adding that 80 percent of tickets to Havana for the next three months have already been booked.

Such a high percentage is unusual for a new route, especially when dealing with a country where the airline had no previous presence, he added.

He also said Alaska Air will fly the new and modern Boeing 737-900ER planes on this route, which leaves Seattle and makes a stop-over in Los Angeles daily, but said flights to other Cuban cities are not presently in the cards as the company wants to familiarize itself with the Caribbean nation’s infrastructure first.

General director of Havana’s José Martí International Airport, Juan Carlos Quintana, who welcomed the inaugural flight, said 2016 was a record year for travelers at the airport.

He highlighted that up until two years ago, the airport received an average of 50 international flights daily, while today the number is 90, and on some days surpasses 100.

Regular flights to Cuba, result of a civil aviation agreement that followed the Havana-Washington diplomatic thaw, began on Aug. 31 last year with a JetBlue flight between Florida and Santa Clara.

Since that day, other operators – American Airlines, Silver Airways, Delta, United Airlines, and Southwest – have begun flying to different cities, including Cienfuegos, Camaguey, Holguin, Santa Clara, Santiago de Cuba and Varadero. EFE