Seattle’s first flight to Havana, Cuba took off this morning from SeaTac Airport.
"We think Havana, Cuba is one of the places people want to go,” said John Kirby of Alaska Airlines.
For nearly six decades, Cuba has been an island unseen by most Americans.
"Not having the ability to go for the most part for over 60 years," said Kirby. "I think there's a lot of pent up demand and even though it's only 90 miles from the coast of the United States, I think it's got a mystery about it that people are really anxious to see."
Among those onboard the inaugural flight from Seattle to Los Angeles to Havana were King County commissioners and Seattle Port commissioners who plan to meet with Cuban leaders. They hope to expand travel by air and sea.
"As the cruise business is expanding into Cuba, we’re hoping that we can make those connections for cruise passengers up in the Northwest," said Port of Seattle Commissioner Stephanie Bowman.
It is not the first trip to Cuba for University of Washington president Ana Mari Cauce. Her father was minister of education under the regime of Fulgencio Batista. Cauce and her family escaped Cuba when she was 3-years-old.
Last year, Cauce said she welcomed the new era of openness.
"If you want to change things, if you want to change someone else's opinion, if you want to change their way of being, what you have to do is engage. Isolation doesn't do it, you have to engage and this is an opportunity to engage," said Cauce.
The daily flights from Seattle are as low as $575 round-trip.
Cauce said that when she arrives in Havana she is considered a citizen of Cuba and did not want to make political statements. She believes Cuba is a place to learn, not fear.
“The people there are absolutely amazing, how they've managed to make old cars run. They have an education system that graduates almost as many, same percentage of students we do. I mean, there's a lot of things that they're doing right there. I think we can learn things from each other and like I say, the more we engage, the more I actually think we'll actually see the changes that we all want," said Cauce.
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