US-Cuba Air services Part 1: The Big 3 stake their claims. American Airlines seeks the lion's share.

Now that Cuba and the US have finalised an agreement that liberalises some, but not all, air travel between the countries, a raft of US airlines has applied to launch services to Cuba. The three large US global network airlines are among the contenders for new service, and each offers nuanced reasoning for the merits of their prospective routes.

Delta argues that it can create meaningful competition for American, whose primary Latin American gateway of Miami serves the largest Cuban population residing in the US. In contrast, American believes that its commanding position at its Miami hub warrants a significant service pattern in order to maximise public benefit of new service between Cuba and the US. United is taking a measured approach, arguing that its proposed service would only constitute a small portion of available frequencies between the two countries.

It will take some time for regulators to wade through the various pitches that airlines are making in order to serve Cuba, but South Florida - home to Miami and Fort Lauderdale - will no doubt play the largest role in new scheduled air service to Cuba.

(This is Part 1 in a series of reports examining prospective service by US airlines to Cuba)