Cuba flight approval requested by Cobb airport

(Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

(Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Cobb County International Airport officials are seeking federal authorization for direct flights to Cuba.

A “Gateway to Cuba” request has been filed for the airport at 1723 McCollum Parkway between Cobb Parkway and Interstate 75.

This airport has both the only on-site U.S. Customs Inspection Facility and the longest general aviation runway at 6,311 feet in metro Atlanta.

Since the facility’s opening in June, the two most distant nonstop arrivals to the Cobb airport have been from Stockholm, Sweden and Santiago, Chile.

However, the U.S. Transportation Security Administration has denied designation to the airport as a “Gateway to DCA” Airport that would allow access by general aviation aircraft from overseas.

Airport officials said their reason is the Customs and Border Protection officers at the Cobb facility are not authorized to conduct the requisite pre-departure inspections and TSA also would not offer the service.

Information: CobbCountyAirport.org.