The latest signs of progress in the thaw between the two Cold War foes emerged from talks in Washington on normalizing relations following the re-establishment of diplomatic ties in July after more than a half-century of hostility.
"We are very close to the first agreements or arrangements that we could be able to announce in the next few weeks," Josefina Vidal, the Cuban Foreign Ministry's chief of US affairs and head of the Cuban delegation in the talks, told reporters at the Cuban Embassy in Washington.
She said the deals expected by the end of the year would also cover environmental protection and the fight against drug trafficking.
Vidal said, however, that while a deal on direct flights would be finalized, "when those flights will be operational, I cannot say."
Direct charter flights have served Cuban-Americans and specialist groups for travel to Cuba for years.
President Barack Obama, who has already used executive powers to ease trade, travel and investment restrictions on Cuba since a diplomatic breakthrough last December, has called for an end to the embargo. But only the US Congress can lift it, and the Republican majority is considered highly unlikely to do so.
The State Department said November 10's meeting of the so-called Bilateral Commission, the second round of such talks since the restoration of relations, "took place in a respectful, cooperative, and productive environment."