MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina resumes domestic flights with strict health protocols

Jujuy was the first Aerolíneas Argentinas destination out of Ezeiza Airport on Thursday with a further three flights to Mendoza, Tucumán and Tierra del Fuego

Argentina resumed regular domestic flights this week after an interruption of seven months due to the Covid-19 pandemic, although within a format of restrictions and health protocols limiting operations.

“The revival of connectivity will be gradual, giving priority to health,” declared the Transport Ministry, only allowing essential workers and persons needing to travel for health reasons to board flights for now.

Jujuy was the first Aerolíneas Argentinas destination out of Ezeiza Airport on Thursday with a further three flights to Mendoza, Tucumán and Tierra del Fuego later the same day. The protocol requires passengers to wear a face-mask and show a travel certificate while some provinces also require proof of testing negative for Covid-19 before boarding aircraft or arrival.

Formosa, the province with the least cases of Covid-19 (147), is the only district to have maintained a ban on incoming flights for now, maintaining strict control over its frontier with Paraguay and other borders.

Regular flights in Argentina were interrupted on March 20 when the government decreed a general quarantine restricting public transport and closing frontiers although various other restrictions on industrial and commercial activities, as well as open-air recreation, have been gradually lifted since then.

Frontiers remain closed while international airlines can only operate flights to transport Argentine citizens or residents who must observe 14 days of quarantine upon arrival.