SANTA CLARA: The first regular commercial flight in more than 50 years from the United States landed in Cuba on Wednesday, as the two nations took the latest step in their efforts to boost ties.

JetBlue Flight 386 landed in the central Cuban city of Santa Clara a little before 11am, about an hour after leaving Fort Lauderdale in south-eastern Florida with 150 passengers on board.

The first two passengers off the plane carried US and Cuban flags as they descended the stairs onto the tarmac, where they symbolically exchanged the banners in a sign of friendship.

The flight was the first of 110 expected daily flights connecting US cities to airports in the Communist-run island, many of them in or near tourism hotspots.

Regular air service was severed during the Cold War, and charter flights have been the only air links since.

US Secretary of State John Kerry hailed the development. “The 1st US commercial flight to #Cuba since 1961, just over a year after raising the flag at US Embassy Havana. Another step fwd,” he wrote on Twitter.

US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx was on the JetBlue flight, Cuba’s transport ministry said. The Fort Lauderdale airport was in full party mode near the Jet Blue’s departure area — a live salsa band blared Cuban favourites as passengers and bystanders broke into spontaneous dance.

There were cheers, applause and a sea of balloons as boarding for the historic flight got underway.

For some, there were also tears of joy. “I am so proud, so overcome with emotion,” said Domingo Santana, 53, who left Cuba when he was just six years old.

Since then, he said, “I’ve never been in my country. I don’t know my country,” adding: “It’s a great opportunity.”

Wednesday’s JetBlue flight was flown by Captain Mark Luaces and First Officer Francisco Barreras, both Americans of Cuban descent, the airline said.

The plane was sent off with a water cannon salute, an aviation tradition in which aircraft pass under arcs of water before flying to their destinations for the first time.

Mark Gale, director of operations for the airport, said it was one of the “great moments in history”, likening it to the moon landing or the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Another passenger, Aleisy Barreda, 46, was overcome with emotions. “This reopening has really benefitted us,” she gushed. “Not only in terms of the ticket prices, but also in terms of how much easier it is to purchase them,” she said. “Now we only need more vacation time!”

The last regular commercial flight between the two countries took place in 1961, when air links fell victim to the Cold War. Air travel between the United States and Cuba has been restricted to charter flights since 1979.

Washington and Havana agreed in February to restore direct commercial flights — one of several watershed changes initiated in December 2014, when US President Barack Obama and Cuba’s Raul Castro announced a thaw after more than 50 years of hostility.

Diplomatic relations were restored in July 2015.

Published in Dawn September 1st, 2016