Major American airline Southwest has inaugurated a new service to Cuba over the weekend. The carrier’s scheduled service between Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and Varadero, Cuba took flight on Sunday.

Southwest is due to begin service to Havana in December from both Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and Tampa International Airport, subject to requisite approvals of the Cuban government. This is the only Cuban destination in the airlines' network to be served from Tampa - both Santa Clara and Varadero are served from Fort Lauderdale.

American carriers have wasted no time in securing these vital links to Cuba. History was made earlier this year when it was announced that commercial service would take place between the US and Cuba for the first time for more than 50 years.

Steve Goldberg, Southwest Airlines’ executive ambassador to Florida said: “By the end of this year, we’ll offer six daily roundtrips between two Florida gateways and three Cuban cities as the work continues to open a new, five-gate international concourse here in Fort Lauderdale next summer.”

Services to Cuba are on the forefront for some of the biggest airlines in the United States, as JetBlue announced their connection to Holguín’s Frank País Airport last week.