As Cuba's nine-day mourning period for former leader Fidel Castro continues, history was made Monday morning when, for the first time in more than 50 years, a regularly-scheduled commercial flight took off from New York City to Havana.

  • Historic commercial flights begin from US to Cuba
  • JetBlue, American Airlines flights departed from JFK, Miami
  • Service from Orlando to Havana on JetBlue begins Tuesday

The first flight left JFK Airport at 8:58 a.m. with 200 passengers on board. An American Airlines flight from Miami to Havana also departed Monday morning, the first of four daily flights American plans out of Miami International.

JetBlue will start twice-daily service from Orlando on Tuesday morning.

Earlier this year, JetBlue became the first U.S. airline to offer service between Florida and Cuba since the Cuban embargo was put in place more than 50 years ago.

Traveling to Cuba is still not open to American tourists. Visitors must fit one of a dozen criteria in order to fly to Cuba.

Some travelers who spoke with Spectrum News/NY1 were part of a group delivering school supplies to Cuban children.

"We'll see how the culture is over there, try the food. Mainly it's the cars, the antique cars, I want to see," said one traveler.

"We've been all over South America, all over Asia, so it's something we do. I love history. I love that Cuba is stuck in time, so it's something I want to see now," said another.

A celebration of Cuban culture also took place at JFK Airport, with performances by artists from both New York and Cuba.

Meanwhile, a two-day tribute to Castro kicked off Monday morning in Havana's Plaza of the Revolution. Tens of thousands of people are expected to file past the monument of national hero Jose Marti in the center of the plaza. Simultaneous 21-gun salutes sounded in Havana and in the eastern city of Santiago, where Castro launched his revolution in 1953.

Castro's ashes will begin a three-day journey across the island nation Tuesday before being interred in Santiago on Sunday.

The revolutionary leader ruled Cuba for decades before health problems forced him to cede power to his brother, Raul, in 2008.

Castro died Friday night at the age of 90.

Information from the Associated Press contributed to this report.