As of March 28th, the Colombian airline will begin to reactivate flight routes connecting Central American countries with North American and South American nations.
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.
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.
As of February 3rd, Avianca will begin operating a new frequency between the capital of El Salvador and the U.S. city.
The new frequency will leave El Salvador at 6:55 p.m. and arrive in Los Angeles at 10:35 p.m. The flight from the U.S. city will leave at 00:30 hours and will arrive in the Central American country at 7:19 hours.
The airline reported that it will reduce its payroll in the country, as part of the process of organizational restructuring and routes that began this year.
Without specifying the number of employees who will be laid off, Avianca reported that it plans to restructure its operations in the country. This announcement comes in the context of the recent cancellation of routes that the airline operated from other countries in the region.
Starting from August, Avianca plans to operate a flight between the Honduran cities of San Pedro Sula and Tegucigalpa, and Boston, in the United States.
The airline announced that on August 17 it will start running four weekly flights that will connect, via El Salvador, Honduran cities to Logan International Airport, in Boston.
Starting from October, Avianca plans to start operating a daily flight between Guatemala City and Chicago, in the United States.
On October 29, the flight connecting La Aurora Airport to Terminal A of O'Hare Chicago International Airport will start operating on board an A320 aircraft with capacity for 150 passengers, 12 in business class and 138 in economy class.
Starting from August, the airline Avianca plans to start operating three weekly flights between Guatemala City and Orlando, in the United States.
Reyna Mejía, commercial director of Avianca, explained that "...'Operations will begin on August 2, three days a week from Guatemala to Orlando and vice versa. The service will use A319 aircraft with capacity for 120 passengers.
Starting in August, Avianca plans to start operating new direct routes between the Salvadoran capital and the cities of Boston and Orlando.
The airline reported that both flights will have four frequencies per week and will depart from Monsenor Óscar Arnulfo Romero and Galdámez International Airport. The flight to Orlando will be inaugurated on August 1 and the route to Boston will begin on August 17.
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.
The strike organized by the colombian operations´pilots has forced the airline to suspend the sale of tickets for flights between Bogota and Guatemala City until October 5.
Prensalibre.com reports that "...For the rest of the destinations operating from Guatemala, passengers will be able to purchase tickets without any problems, as these flights are not affected by the strike reported Avianca's North American, Central American & Caribbean Regional Communications department."
In five years the airline market in Central America has transformed from being a market dominated by two major airlines, to one with new entrants, lower prices and greater connectivity.
The arrival of so called "low cost" airlines to the region has resulted in a progressive reduction in the prices of tickets to fly between Central American countries. Between 2011 and 2014 the average cost without taxes for travelling between Costa Rica and El Salvador ranged from between $400 and $500, while in 2015 it costs $391.
The country has strengthened a key factor in the tourism industry, which had suffered a blow when Avianca / Taca stopped operating its regional hub at the Juan Santamaria Airport.
The available seats going to the airport terminal in the main tourist area of Costa Rica, Daniel Oduber International Airport, increased by 57%.
After three years without any tourism marketing, the authority for the sector has announced that $10 million will be spent on international promotion, aside from the $5 million already being tendered in a domestic campaign.
The uneven internal and external promotion of tourism in Panama could have seen better days. The general manager of the Tourism Authority of Panama, Gustavo Him, announced in a statement that there will be a budget of $10 million for the international promotion, in addition to the $5 million for domestic tourism promotion.
Operations at three air terminals, including La Aurora, are being affected by trade union reprisals against dismissal of air traffic controllers.
Jackeline Lopez, in charge of communication of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGAC) said that a cut of $2 million in the budget of the institution led to the dismissal of 25 of 60 air traffic controllers and a cut of 23% in salaries for the rest of the staff.