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.
The Mexican airline Volaris will be suspending its services as of July 1, and the luxury resort hotel Mukul, in Guacalito, has announced the indefinite closure of its operations.
The crisis that has been going on in the country for the last month continues to harm the tourism business sector.The airline Volaris reported that it will temporarily suspend services to Managua from next week, and the luxury hotel Mukul Auberge Resorts Collection, in the South Pacific, announced on Friday that it will close its operations indefinitely.
Copa Airlines has announced two weekly flights between Tocumen and the International Airport Capitan FAP Jose A. Quiñones in Chiclayo, Peru, from June 28.
From a statement issued by Copa Airlines:
Lima, March 18, 2016. Copa Airlines {NYSE: CPA} a subsidiary of Copa Holdings, SA, and member of the global airline network Star Alliance, announced its new route between the historic city of Chiclayo and Panama City, from next June 28 2016, with two weekly frequencies. With this destination, the airline will increase the connectivity of northern Peru with the rest of the Americas.
The stock price of Copa Holdings has fallen and at the same time the airline has stopped accepting Argentina's currency for ticket sales.
Restrictions in Argentina for converting local currency to dollars and for sending funds abroad, have now forced American Airlines and Air Canada to take the same measure implemented by Copa.
Growing regional air connectivity is creating new opportunities to maximize the potential of tourist destinations in Central America.
EDITORIAL
Flying from Ometepe Island in Nicaragua, to San Jose, Costa Rica, and then landing in Bocas del Toro in Panama, was impossible a few years ago. Increasing air connectivity among the most important tourist spots in each of the Central American countries provides a wide window of opportunity for the tourism sector in the region.
Air Panama has announced that starting July 1st it will be operating a daily frequency between Panama City and the international airport of Costa Rica.
EDITORIAL
The air route between San José and Panama City has become, because of the characteristics of the demand from travelers between the capitals of both countries, the so-called "air bridges", where availability of seats is permanent.
The low-cost airline VivaColombia is looking at opening up routes to Central American countries.
During the inauguration of Routes Americas which was held in El Salvador, the head of tourism in the country, Jose Napoleon Duarte said they have begun talks with the low-cost airline VivaColombia, which has shown interest in opening routes to countries in Central America.
From 23rd to 25th of February representatives from airlines, airports and the tourism industry will be reviewing air services in the region.
More than 400 aviation professionals, representatives from 70 airlines, 25 authorities for tourism and airports will meet from 23rd to 25th February in El Salvador in the seventh edition of Routes Americas, an event aimed at developing new routes and expanding connectivity .
El Salvador's Vuelos Económicos Centroamericanos and Costa Rica's Ticos Air and Ticas Airlines are in various stages of preparation and registration to offer flights in the region.
Vuelos Económicos Centroamericanos (CASI) reported that it has leased two Airbus aircraft and will invest nearly $100 million in order to start operations in March 2014. The company is interested in creating a market in the low-cost segment and not competing with airlines such as Avianca and Copa, said Edgar Hasbun, CEO of the company.
Starting next December the airline will start flights between Tampa International Airport, Florida, and Tocumen in Panama.
The new route will link passengers from Tampa with Central American countries and those in South America, through Copa's hub in Panama.
No details have been released about the flight, to verify if Copa Airlines will use a Boeing 737 aircraft. The duration of the flight will be approximately two and a half hours.
The infrastructure in most airports in Central America can not cover the increase in the number of air passengers transiting in the region.
In the region, traffic has increased by almost 80% over the last ten years going from 95 million to 170 million passengers. "Today, 30% of Latin American flights take off or land at congested airports, which constitutes one of the main difficulties in the development of the airline industry," noted an article in Eleconomista.net.
The airlines announced the signing of the agreement which will contribute to increased flight options for passengers in the Southern Cone.
In the first quarter of next year, Sky Airlines will sign a similar agreement with the airline Avianca, indicated Fabio Villegas, CEO of Avianca, Taca, Stuart Ortiz, COO of Avianca-Taca and Jürgen Paulmann, CEO of Sky Airlines, in a press conference.
Latin American airlines Avianca, Taca and Copa joined the global Star Alliance network.
The goal of these two companies joining the alliance is to integrate the ''hubs'' of Avianca-Taca (San Salvador, Lima, San José and Bogotá) and Copa (Panama City).
The incorporation of both airlines will be implemented by standardizing ticketing procedures and baggage handling, said Jaan Albrecht, CEO of Star Alliance.
The agreement will come into effect on January 11th, 2010, and will offer customers more travel options to the U.S. and Latin America.
By codesharing, both companies can sell each other's flights, combining segments from both airlines under a same ticket.
Alex Benitez, vice president of Corporate Development at TACA, told Laprensagrafica.com: "We are pleased to offer our customers new options to travel to the U.S. market with U.S. Airways".
Through El Salvador, TACA passengers will be able to fly to Cancun from any Central American country.
TACA Airlines now offers a direct, daily flight between Cancun and its Connections Hub in El Salvador.
This flight will ease the flow of passengers between Central America and Cancun, and will provide access to TACA's route network for passengers boarding at Cancun.