American Airlines Flight 17, the first scheduled commercial flight between the US and Cuba in 50 years, touches down just three days after Fidel Castro dies

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Planned as a celebration of newly improved relations between the United States and Cuba, the first scheduled flight from Miami to Havana in more than 50 years turned into a more subdued affair early on Monday, three days after the death of the island’s revolutionary leader Fidel Castro.

The milestone American Airlines Flight 17 touched down in the Cuban capital at 8.26am, amid nine days of national mourning for the country’s former president, who died on Saturday at the age of 90.

Its low-key arrival at José Martí international airport, where flags were flying at half-mast in Castro’s honour, contrasted with the flight’s carnival send-off from Miami, where the 145 passengers enjoyed Cuban pastries and coffee before being handed straw Cuban fedora hats as they boarded the aircraft.

Ralph Lopez, vice-president of the airline’s Miami hub, said that despite the sombre mood in Havana, there was poignancy in the first scheduled flight to the Cuban capital since 1961, the year the US imposed its trade embargo on the country in response to Castro’s overthrow of the dictator Fulgencio Batista two years earlier, and subsequent human rights abuses.

“It’s a monumental day of great historic relevance, with Miami being the epicentre of the Cuban American community and American Airlines’ hub for the region,” he said.

“We’re excited to live in these exciting times and serve Havana.”

The American flight was set to be followed into Havana by a JetBlue departure from New York on Monday afternoon, marking a new beginning for regularly scheduled services from the US to the Cuban capital. Non-charter flights to other Cuban cities began in September, the latest steps in Barack Obama’s attempts to thaw relations between the two cold war foes after a half-century of hostility.

In a tweet on Monday, President-elect Donald Trump promised to “terminate” the Obama administration’s conciliatory approach to Cuba unless the Cuban government was willing to make “a better deal” for Cubans, Cuban Americans and “the US as a whole”.

'A powerful moment': first US-to-Cuba flight since 1961 is latest step in thaw Read more

The detente is also unpopular with many in Miami’s large Cuban American population, among them Florida’s senator and former presidential candidate Marco Rubio, who was scathing of Obama’s response to Castro’s death. In his statement, the president offered condolences to Castro’s family and thoughts and prayers to the Cuban people.

“President Obama issued a pathetic statement on death of dictator Fidel Castro with no mention of thousands he killed & imprisoned,” Rubio fumed in a tweet.