As of March 28th, the Colombian airline will begin to reactivate flight routes connecting Central American countries with North American and South American nations.
Due to the constant restrictions in different countries regarding the limitation of entry of tourists, as well as mobility within the cities, and the high uncertainty that passengers still have, the airline decided to suspend some routes in Central America.
The airline will temporarily suspend some international routes, which will be resumed according to the evolution of the pandemic, in some cases during the first quarter of the year, in other cases during the second semester, informed the Colombian airline on March 1.
The constant resurgence of covid-19, the closure of international markets and the loss of consumer confidence, postpone the beginning of the recovery of the air industry, a process that is predicted to be long in the context of the new business reality.
According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), in this context of business and economic crisis in a large number of countries at the global level, there is no evidence of strong growth in global demand for cargo and its progress continues to be an extraordinary challenge for airlines.
Restructuring of airlines, preference for direct flights, modifications in the routes operated and the use of smaller aircraft are some of the changes expected in the regional air market in the context of the new business normality.
Air traffic has virtually disappeared in the last three months, as governments in Central America have decided to close borders and suspend commercial flights to and from the region's airports as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
The Colombian-born airline, which operates in all Central American countries, voluntarily filed for bankruptcy in the United States following the company's economic losses due to the spread of covid-19 globally.
This process was necessary due to the unpredictable impact of the covid-19 pandemic, which has caused a 90% decrease in global passenger traffic and is expected to reduce industry revenues worldwide by US$314 billion, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the company reported.
On January 24, the bilateral agreement known as "Open Skies" came into force, which considers flights between both countries as domestic.
The agreement reached between the two countries, which aims to promote tourism and investment, was announced by the vice presidents of Guatemala, Guillermo Castillo, and El Salvador, Felix Ulloa.
The airline completed the sale of its shareholding in the Central American companies Sansa and La Costeña, which operate domestic flights in Costa Rica and Nicaragua, respectively.
The completion took place on May 31, 2019 and is an improvement of the share purchase agreement signed on April 22 between the parties, reported Avianca in a statement.
Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador signed the Regulations for the Facilitation of Air and Airport Operations, which will allow some of the flights operating between the three countries to be considered domestic flights.
The Honduran Minister of Investment, Luis Mata, explained that "... this makes it interesting for local and regional airlines to be able to use their planes on regional flights now considered as domestic or local flights with preferential rates."
The airline Aliana announced the cancellation of flight routes from Guatemala to the United States and Tegucigalpa, and from the capital of El Salvador to destinations in North and South America.
Some routes from Bogota, Guatemala and San Salvador will be canceled consisting of fleet changes and focus on routes with higher demand, the airline said in a statement.
Arguing that the South American country is not safe, American Airlines decided to temporarily suspend flights to Caracas and Maracaibo.
"... The safety of our employees and customers is always our top priority and American will not operate to countries not considered safe," the airline explained in a statement.
The Mexican Volaris announced that next year will turn Costa Rica into its hub, from where it will open flights to South America and will put two or three more aircraft based in the Central American country.
The representatives of the low-cost airline reported that their plan for 2019 is to start direct flights to South America from Juan Santamaria International Airport and expand from four to seven the number of aircraft departing from Costa Rica.
An announced has been made of a definitive deprogramming of the weekly flight that operated between Buenos Aires and Caracas, citing operational reasons.
Already in August the airline operating under the Argentine flag had announced the suspension of the tickets sales for this flight.Now the company has announced the deprogramming of its weekly flight in definitive form.
Dismissing the proposals by the Panamanian company Copa and that of Delta, Avianca Holdings has announced it will start the process of finalizing a strategic and commercial alliance with United Airlines.
The beginning of operations of several regional airlines in the moderately priced sector is auspicious for trade, and in particular tourism.
EDITORIAL
The launch in San Jose this week of the ultra low cost airline Volaris Costa Rica, with a presence in Mexico, the United States and Central America, who will begin operating next month with a San Jose, Costa Rica -Guatemala City (Guatemala) route, confirms how activated the business of commercial aviation in Central America has become.
From December 1 the new airline Wingo will be operating low cost regional flights.
A subsidiary of Copa Holdings, Wingo, has announced the start of operations and will start with flights on December 1, offering a daily frequency to Panama on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, and from Guatemala, one daily on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays, according to information posted on its website.