WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) said yesterday it has proposed select eight U.S. airlines to begin scheduled flights between Havana and a long list of U.S. cities including Atlanta, Charlotte, Fort Lauderdale, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Newark, New York City, Orlando, and Tampa, as early as this fall.

A dozen U.S. airlines applied for the chance to operate scheduled passenger and cargo service to Havana. Collectively the airlines applied for nearly 60 flights per day to Havana, exceeding the 20 daily flights made available by arrangement between the two governments.

The DOT said its principal objective in making its proposed selections was to “maximize public benefits, including choosing airlines that offered and could maintain the best ongoing service between the U.S. and Havana.”

The airlines receiving the tentative awards are Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Frontier Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Southwest Airlines, Spirit Airlines, and United Airlines.

DOT’s proposal allocates nonstop Havana service to areas of substantial Cuban-American population, as well as to important aviation hub cities.

The proposal comes nearly one year after the U.S. and Cuba reestablished diplomatic relations in July 2015.

“Today we take another important step toward delivering on President Obama’s promise to reengage Cuba,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx.  “Restoring regular air service holds tremendous potential to reunite Cuban American families and foster education and opportunities for American businesses of all sizes.”

According to reports, the number of American travellers to Cuba rose 84% for the first half of the year compared with the same January-June period in 2015.

Overall tourism to Cuba was up 11.7% for the first six months of 2016, with a total of 2,147,600 travellers to the island.