Havana, March 18 (IANS/EFE): Weekly direct charter flights between Havana and New York have resumed following a third round of talks on the restoration of diplomatic ties between the US and Cuba.

The service is operated by US-based Cuban Travel Services (CTS).

The first flight took off on Tuesday from Havana's Jose Marti International Airport, carrying 10 people bound for New York.

The return flight, departing from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport landed in Havana on Tuesday evening.

CTS announced last month that it would lease a Boeing 737-800 from US airline Sun Country for the New York-Havana service.

The cost of a round-trip ticket is $849 for economy class and $1,334 for executive class, CTS said.

Last week, charter flights resumed from New Orleans to Havana after a 57-year gap.

The first direct flight in almost 40 years between New York and Havana was in 1999, after former president Bill Clinton authorised trips to facilitate "personal contacts" between the two countries despite the economic embargo that Washington imposed on the island in 1962.