AREQUIPA, Peru. – Indian company MGM Muthu Hotels wants to operate its own flights in Cuba starting this December, using its own ATR-72 aircraft, due to the deficiencies with air transportation in Cuba.
According to the portal Expreso, which specializes in tourism subject matter, the company owns Muthu Aviation, which is awaiting approval from Cuban authorities to connect Havana with destinations such as Cayo Coco, Holguín and Santa Clara. With its ART-72 aircraft, the company would have capacity for up to 72 passengers.
Keith Campbell, Muthu Aviation director, stated that the company “was born to provide domestic flights in Cuba.” The director seeks to “address the lack of connections in the country, which forces international tourists to travel for long hours on buses between Havana and the beach destinations, like the keys or Holguín.”
Campbell highlighted that tourists who come to Cuba want to spend a few days in Havana and then make their way to the beaches, which, as of now, can only be done by road. In that respect, Muthu Aviation will be an aggregate value, as the trip from Havana to Holguin, for example, would take one-and-a-half hours.
He highlighted that the ATR-72 aircraft are European-made following the parameters and regulations of the region. Likewise, the aircraft’s crew and engineers will also be European, and will be certified by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency,
“It provides a safety guarantee for European passengers and allows travel agents to make reservations for our flights with total confidence,” Campbell stated.
In recent years, authorities of the Cuban regime have had to cancel or decrease the frequency of the principal flight itineraries in the island. In late October, transportation minister Eduardo Rodríguez Dávila announced the interruption of flights from Havana to the cities of Camagüey and Nueva Gerona due to problems with one of its aircrafts.
According to his statements, as quoted by the state news medium Granma, the interruption of the aforementioned routes will be temporary, and was due to “aircraft malfunction”.
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