After more than a year of not flying to the Central American country due to the health crisis, the Mexican airline confirmed that as of July 1 it will resume operations to Nicaragua.
The airline plans to cover the route between Mexico City and Managua on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Flights will depart from Mexico at 9:10 a.m. and will arrive in the Nicaraguan capital at 10:55 a.m., and the departure from Managua will be at 12:00 p.m.
In the first quarter of the year, interest in air travel increased in all Central American markets, a rise that was most evident in Honduras and Guatemala.
Through a system that monitors in real time changes in consumer interests and preferences in Central American countries, developed by CentralAmericaData, it is possible to project short and long term demand trends for the different products, sectors and markets operating in the region.
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.
Since American Airlines, Aeromexico, United Airlines and Spirit announced that they will delay their return to the country until April, local businessmen have given up hope that air connectivity will improve in the coming weeks.
Six international airlines operate in Nicaragua, but currently only Copa and Avianca are flying. The remaining four have postponed their return and according to their latest announcements, they would return until April.
After several months without arriving in the country due to the covid-19 outbreak, Copa Airlines will resume flights to Managua starting January 20 and will do so on a weekly basis.
The plans of the Panamanian airline is to operate during January a weekly frequency on Wednesdays, informed Carlos Schütze, vice president of the National Chamber of Tourism of Nicaragua (Canatur).
Because only two airlines currently operate in Nicaragua and there is no certainty when other companies will reactivate their flights, entrepreneurs in the tourism sector remain uncertain.
Due to the covid-19 outbreak, the country was left without an air connection, as the airlines decided to suspend their operations due to the low number of travelers who were willing to travel in this context of the pandemic.
Due to the alert that health authorities have issued for the appearance of a new SARS-CoV-2 strain and in line with the decision made by El Salvador, the governments of Panama and Guatemala will also ban the entry of people from the United Kingdom and South Africa.
Due to the new variant of Covid-19, the National Operation Center decided to temporarily suspend as of 11:59 p.m.
When the pandemic began, interest among Central Americans in travel agency and other tourism-related services dropped significantly, and although it rebounded in mid-May, in recent weeks it has again reported a downward trend.
Through a system that monitors in real time changes in consumer interests and preferences in Central American countries, developed by CentralAmericaData, it is possible to project short and long term demand trends for different products, sectors and markets operating in the region.
In the context of the economic reopening, it was announced that as of October 15, Costa Rican air terminals will begin to receive flights carrying citizens from Central America and Panama.
Due to the covid-19 outbreak, air transport between Costa Rica and the other countries in the region has been interrupted since March. Seven months later, authorities removed the restriction and airlines will be able to begin operating these flights.
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.
Originally it was announced that in the first days of August the airlines operating in the country could resume activities, but due to the requirements, most plan to reactivate their flights in September and in the case of American Airlines, the resumption would be in October.
Due to the covid-19 outbreak, commercial flights to and from Nicaragua were suspended since the beginning of April.
Commercial flights entering the country will be required to obtain a fumigation certificate for the aircraft and passengers attempting to enter will be required to take a negative covid-19 test, carried out within a period of no more than 72 hours.
Because of the spread of covid-19, commercial flights in the country continue to be suspended; however, airlines anticipate that they may resume operations in early August.
As part of the reopening of borders and the revival of commercial flights, the European Union did not include any country in the region in its initial list of markets authorized to resume commercial flights.
Because of the covid-19 outbreak, commercial flights continue to be suspended in all Central American countries; however, it is expected that in the coming weeks restrictions will be lifted and airports in the region will begin to normalize their operations.
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.