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Operators will be given 60 days to discontinue their flights, according to Pompeo, and after that, the U.S. Department of Transportation will implement a cap on the number of public charter flights permitted.

It's the latest in a series of steps to impose economic pressure on Havana and limit American travel. Before the commercial airline ban, the administration banned cruise ships, along with private yachts, fishing boats and other similar vessels, from docking in Cuban ports last June.

\"PHOTO:
Miami Herald/TNS via Getty Images, FILE
PHOTO: An American Airlines executive greets travel agents on the tarmac as they arrive in Cienfuegos on American Airlines' inaugural scheduled service from Miami to Cuba in Sept. 2016.
>

On the same day, the administration announced a ban on people-to-people exchanges. These cultural and educational tours were one of the categories Americans had been permitted to travel to Cuba on for decades, provided that they file for and receive permission ahead of time.

The ban is a step further than the restrictions that were in place before Obama moved to repair relations with Cuba and made it easier for U.S. citizens to travel there by not requiring advanced permission.

Eleven other categories of travel are still permitted, including other cultural exchanges -- like those taken by university groups -- along with travel to see family members or to focus on humanitarian projects, religious activities, public performances, journalism or official U.S. government business.

The U.S. embassy in Havana also operates with a skeleton staff at this point after the Trump administration ordered the majority of U.S. diplomats to depart back in September 2017, citing the still unsolved health problems that about two dozen officials suffered.

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