First commercial flight to Havana in decades takes off from Orlando Tuesday

ORLANDO, Fla. — For the first time in more than 50 years, a non-stop commercial flight took off from the U.S. on Tuesday morning and landed in Havana, Cuba.

The JetBlue flight was scheduled to take off from Orlando International Airport at about 8:30 a.m. and touched down in Havana at 9:46 a.m.

Leading up to the historic flight, passenger Amy Holguin said she was excited to be headed to the island, especially at an affordable cost.

"I paid $134 and $50 for the visa," she said. “I am going back to see my aunts and uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews that are over there.”

Visiting family is one of the 12 categories that permits people to qualify for travel from the U.S. to Cuba.

JetBlue will have seven daily flights to Cuba from three cities: Orlando, Fort Lauderdale and New York.

"We are excited to offer another destination in the Caribbean where our model has been very successful bringing fair pricing and great service to a market that really appreciates that," JetBlue spokesman Warren Christy said. "

However, passengers lining up Tuesday morning told Channel 9, that they might not have chosen the best time to travel to the island nation, considering the recent death of longtime dictator Fidel Castro.

The country is in a state of mourning, family members in Cuba told some of the passengers.

“As the people say, there is nothing open,” passenger Margarita Darna said. “There is no alcohol. The restaurants have a short time open and everything is only Fidel.”

Officials from JetBlue and OIA had planned a celebration to mark the historic flight, but it was canceled Tuesday morning out of respect for Castro’s mourners.

Cox Media Group