Americans will be able to fly to Cuba again after President Joe Biden's administration revoked a series of flight restrictions enacted under former president Donald Trump.
The plan would include an end to prohibitions on US flights to Cuban airports other than Havana.
The US Transport Department issued the order at the request of Secretary of State Antony Blinken who said the action was “in support of the Cuban people and in the foreign policy interests of the United States”.
Travelling to the island will still be a complicated process for Americans, however, and tourist-related visits remain prohibited.
The White House last month had signalled the planned move as part of a broader revision of policy towards Cuba.
“We will make it easier for families to visit their relatives in Cuba and for authorised US travellers to engage with the Cuban people, attend meetings and conduct research,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said last month.
But the move was met with criticism from some US politicians. Democrat Bob Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement at the time that lifting the travel restrictions would send the “wrong message to the wrong people, at the wrong time and for all the wrong reasons”.
“I am dismayed to learn the Biden administration will begin authorising group travel to Cuba through visits akin to tourism,” he said.
The Biden administration also loosened restrictions to allow for increased visa processing, including at the consulate in Havana, though most will still be processed at the US embassy in Guyana.
The State Department said it would also remove the family remittance cap of $1,000 per quarter and support remittances to Cuban entrepreneurs.
“We are going to ensure that remittances flow more freely to the Cuban people, while not enriching those who perpetrate human rights abuses,” an administration official said.
Reuters contributed to this report
