MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

International travel returning to Argentine airport of Mendoza

Mendoza's airport has not seen any international traffic for the past 18 months

International passenger traffic is set to return to the El Plumerillo international airport serving the capital city of the Argentine province of Mendoza on Sept. 25 when an Aerolineas Argentinas flight will take off bound for Santiago de Chile.

“This flight is added to improve the connectivity of the province after the National Government allowed the international airport of Mendoza and the Cristo Redentor [land corssing] as safe corridors for the entry of Argentines and foreign residents foreigners,” the flag carrier said in a statement.

Aerolineas Argentinas will serve Santiago de Chile with Embraer 190 aircraft seating up to 96 passengers every Saturday. Flight AR1288 will depart Sept. 25 at 1:30 p.m. from El Plumerillo International Airport and return by 4:25 p.m the same day.

Regarding domestic flights, Aerolíneas Argentinas will also connect Mendoza with Salta twice a week and three times starting in November. With these new routes, Aerolineas Argentinas will have 35 weekly frequencies to and from Mendoza.

Latam Airlines is also seeking to improve Mendoza's connectivity and has filed requests to serve both Santiago and also Sao Paulo from there, as it did before the pandemic. The company plans to resume flights on October 18.

The carrier has submitted plans for three weekly flights to each destination. The company has also requested to once again serve Lima, Peru; Santiago de Chile and Sao Paulo from Buenos Aires Jorge Newbery Airport as of Oct. 1.

The Governor Francisco Gabrielli International Airport, popularly known by its previous name, “El Plumerillo”, did not receive regular international flights since the start of the pandemic, in March 2020.

The Chilean Government of President Sebastián Piñera has announced it will reopen its borders effective Oct. 1, but only for vaccinated travellers, who will be also required to submit a PCR test 72 hours before the start of the trip, in addition to medical insurance and a five-day quarantine upon arrival.

The new measure will also allow Chileans and foreign residents to leave the country, provided they have a Mobility Pass, although children and adolescents can do without such a document.

”People who enter the country must comply with the (sanitary control) measures, carry out the self-report, as well as respect the self-care measures,” Chile's Health Undersecretary Paula Daza explained.

Travellers will also be able to use the international airports of Iquique and Antofagasta in addition to Santiago's.

Chilean health authorities also explained that as of October there will be no more “transit” hotels, which means arriving travellers must be isolated for five days if they have a Mobility Pass, and seven if they do not have it.

Vaccination in Chile reached 87.2 per cent of the target population, made up of about 15 million people.