Scheduled passenger flights to Cuba resume - now with jets

Fort Lauderdale, Florida

AMID live Cuban music, fresh guava pastries and a water cannon salute, the first scheduled passenger jet service in history between Cuba and the United States kicked off on Wednesday with a 9.45am flight from here to Santa Clara, about three hours east of Havana.

The flight on JetBlue - the first regularly scheduled flight from the US to Cuba in more than 50 years - was another important step towards normalised relations between two former Cold War foes, which promises to sharply reduce airfares and ease travel between the nations.