MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Falkland Islands Government seeks to resume air links with Chile from July

Following the announcement last month, concerning the relaxation of COVID-19 measures in the Falkland Islands, the government is now seeking to resume the airlink with Chile from 2 July 2022, provided that all necessary permissions are granted and mainland airports are open.

As has been communicated previously, decisions around the resumption of these flights have involved the consideration of a number of topics, including COVID-19 related border policies and quarantine. From 4 May 2022, there will no longer be a requirement to quarantine in the Islands and the essential visitor policy will end, which means that the barriers to resuming these flights have now considerably reduced.

The Falkland Islands Government is now involved in discussions to reestablish the Chile flight first, in July, and then the Sao Paulo route later on this year, most likely towards the beginning of the summer season in November 2022.

MLA Mark Pollard, Portfolio Lead for Commercial Services, said: “We know the distress and disruption that the suspension of these flights has caused and I don’t think anyone could have envisaged the full extent of the impact that the pandemic has had on the Falkland Islands, let alone the world. However, it has always been our aim to restore these airlinks as soon as it was safe and viable to do so and, as we move towards the careful reopening of our country, we look forward to seeing these routes reopened.”

We must add that on page 6 of the last Penguins New edition, Falklands Security Services Ltd. has announced several vacancies, Part time Aviation Security Officers and Part time Security Assistants, given the “commencement of LATAM flights”