The US Department of Transportation (DOT) has tentatively granted permission to United Airlines and Mesa Airlines to start offering a daily direct service between George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, US, and José Martí International Airport in Havana, Cuba.

United Airlines will expand from Saturday-only service between Houston and Havana to daily service, pending receipt of final government approval.

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United will deploy the Boeing 737-800 and the regional Embraer E175 jet on the route. Mesa Airlines will operate regional jet aircraft as United Express.

“We applaud the US Department of Transportation’s decision to increase United service between Houston and Havana from Saturday-only to daily.”

The Embraer E175 two-cabin regional jet provides 12 seats in United First and 64 seats in United Economy, including 16 extra-legroom Economy Plus seats. Both planes feature UnitedWiFi.

United Airlines regulatory and policy vice-president Steve Morrissey said: “On behalf of United Airlines, we applaud the US Department of Transportation’s decision to increase United service between Houston and Havana from Saturday-only to daily.”

Since its launch in December 2016, United’s Saturday-only service has been offering more choice and convenience to customers when planning travel to Havana.

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Besides boosting competition, United’s increase in service will improve air services to Havana for customers in Houston and 44 other destinations in the central and western US.

United Airlines and United Express operate around 4,500 flights on a daily basis to 338 airports across five continents.

Last year, more than 1.6 million flights carrying over 148 million customers were operated.