MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Latin American airlines gradually resuming passenger flights as industry bounces back from pandemic

Passengers are still required to observe all protocols in accordance with their airport of destination

Passenger airline services are gradually returning to pre-pandemic levels, with three carriers already announcing new routes and frequencies Tuesday.

Panama's Copa Airlines will resume flights between Panama City's Tocumen International Airport (PTY) to Belize (BZE) as of next month after lifting that route in March 2020 as a result of the current pandemic.

Copa has initially scheduled one weekly flight on a changing day between Monday and Friday operated by Boeing 737-800 aircraft which can accomodate up to 154/160 passengers for a monthly offer of 1,256 seats.

Meanwhile, Aeroméxico has announced the addition of two weekly flights between Mexico City (MEX) and Quito (UIO) in Ecuador, rising the total services from 7 to 9. Having started serving Quito in 2013, Aeromexico was the first Latin American carrier to resume operations in Ecuador after the first wave of covid-19.

While passenger travel was not available, Aeroméxico transported 30 tons of essential medical supplies in its Boeing 787 Dreamliner, through the Aeroméxico Cargo franchise.

In September 2019, Aeromexico cut down their weekly flights to Quito from 12 to 7 and lifted the Guayaquil route altogether.

And Brazilian carrier LATAM will resume serving the Mexican beach resort of Cancun from its international hub in Sao Paulo's Guarulhos airport, starting in June, a route which LATAM has previously operated between December 2014 and January 2017. This time around, LATAM will use a Boeing 767-300 aircraft, seating 30 passengers in Business Class plus 191 in Economy.

Outgoing flights will depart from Guarulhos on Mondays and Fridays at 8:50 am to arrive in Cancun at 2:00 pm. Return services will leave Cancun Tuesdays and Saturdays at 3:50 p.m., arriving in San Pablo at 2:30 a.m. local time the following day.

LATAM has announced tickets will become available for purchase starting next Sunday, May 9, starting at around US $ 670 roundtrip.