Ronkonkoma charter service begins Cuba flights

Ronkonkoma-based jet charter service ExcelAire has received Federal Aviation Administration clearance to fly to Cuba, the company announced Tuesday.

ExcelAire, which maintains hangar space at MacArthur Airport, made its first flight to Havana on Dec. 21.

In August, another Long Island charter service, JFI Jets, whose primary bases are at Republic Airport in East Farmingdale and at Long Beach Airport in California, where it is headquartered, began offering flights to Cuba.

The island nation was off limits to travelers for decades because of sanctions against the Castro regime. In January, the Obama administration moved to ease travel restrictions to the Communist-ruled nation.

ExcelAire is a unit of Hawthorne Global Aviation Services based in North Charleston, South Carolina.

By Ken Schachter

kenneth.schachter@newsday.comkschach

Ken Schachter covers corporate news, including technology and aerospace, and other business topics for Newsday. He has also worked at The Miami Herald and The Jerusalem Post.