US Air investor eyes Cuba as destination-report = = = = Tuesday January 7, 2:00 PM EST = NEW YORK, Jan 7 (Reuters) - One of US Airways Group's (UAWGQ) prospective= flight destinations could stir up a wealth of ticket sales -- and a bit = of controversy -- if the bankrupt airline's biggest investor has his way.= David Bronner, chief executive of the Alabama pension fund that will assu= me a controlling stake in US Airways once it emerges from bankruptcy, tol= d the Charlotte Observer he may meet with Cuban President Fidel Castro ne= xt month to discuss the possibility of airline service between the United= States and Cuba. "We do want to establish airline service into Cuba, and I'd love to be fi= rst," Bronner told the Observer in an interview published on Tuesday. "On= e of the things US Airways does well is the Caribbean, and Cuba (would be= ) gigantic compared to the rest of the Caribbean," he said. = Business activity and travel between the countries has been severely hamp= ered by an economic embargo the United States imposed shortly after Castr= o's 1959 revolution, which brought his one-party government into power. But Bronner's comments echoed the desire of many U.S. business leaders wh= o want to see an end to the long-standing U.S. embargo, or at least an ea= sing of the travel ban. There are currently over 20 direct charter flights every week between Mia= mi and Havana, Cuba, once a premiere Caribbean travel destination for U.S= =2E tourists. The charters use planes from airlines like AMR Corp.'s (AMR= ) American, Continental Airlines (CAL), and AirTran Holdings (AAI), but t= he airlines themselves do not run the flights. Bronner, a major player in Alabama's financial community, plans to travel= to Cuba next month as part of a push to build more trade between Cuba an= d Mobile, Ala., the Observer said. Bronner's Retirement Systems of Alabama has agreed to put up $500 million= in emergency financing to run US Airways' operations, along with $240 mi= llion for an eventual 36 percent equity stake in the airline and a 71 per= cent voting stake. While US Airways has thinned out its flight schedule and rejected scores = of airplanes to lighten its costs during bankruptcy, it has added flights= to Caribbean destinations like Jamaica and Puerto Rico as part of its gr= owth strategy. The Arlington, Virginia-based airline and its express service serve 25 Ca= ribbean destinations. While US Airways spokesman David Castelveter said n= o plan was in place for expansion into Cuba because of U.S. government tr= avel restrictions, he said Cuba would be consistent geographically with t= he airline's growth strategy. Cuban officials have taken steps to build up the island's tourism industr= y, and some predict the travel ban will be lifted in the near future. An international airport that can receive wide-body jets opened last mont= h on Cayo Coco, the biggest key along Cuba's sandy north shore. Nearly a = dozen luxury hotels are already situated in the area. = =A92002 Reuters Limited. = Roger EWROPS