Grisel Isaac
01/30/2021 9:58 AM
Clarín.com
Travels
Updated 01/30/2021 9:58 AM
With a statement that the National Civil Aviation Administration (ANAC) sent to the airlines last week, the Government's request to
reduce the frequencies of flights
to and from destinations in the United States, Europe, Mexico (30% less) and Brazil (50%), due to the outbreak of coronavirus that occurs in those countries.
The objective is to avoid (or at least reduce the possibilities) the entry of new variants into the country.
"Today more than 3,000 passengers daily enter the country, with this we would significantly reduce that amount, we would be in the order of 2,000 passengers per day from places where we have new strains," said Transport Minister Mario Meoni, adding that This "allows us that
100 percent of the people
can have
control
of the access at the Ezeiza airport
."
Brazil is one of the destinations with reduced air frequencies.
Here, an aerial view of the Cristo del Corcovado, in Rio de Janeiro.
Photo: EFE / Antonio Lacerda
American Airlines, for example, shared what it is communicating in relation to the new regulations and that it will implement from February: “In compliance with the new requirements of the Argentine government, as of February 1 we will be reducing our operation in Buenos Aires ( EZE), which currently includes daily service to Miami (MIA) and Dallas / Fort Worth (DFW).
Our plan is to
continue operating daily service to Miami
and three weekly flights to Dallas / Fort Worth.
We will work to re-accommodate our impacted clients. "
It is also true that with the outbreaks of recent times,
some routes had already suffered reductions.
Or suspensions as in the case of KLM.
On January 23, the Netherlands restricted the entry of passengers from certain countries that are considered "risky due to Covid-19".
As Argentina is on that list of countries, KLM flights from Buenos Aires to Amsterdam, for the moment, are not carrying passengers.
However, as confirmed by the company, the flights that take off from Amsterdam can bring passengers to Argentina.
Bicycles on an empty street in Amsterdam.
Photo: Nik Oiko / SOPA Images via ZUMA Wire / dpa
Alitalia also suspended its operations between Rome and Buenos Aires.
“Since the borders were opened, no airline has operated with the same number of planes and frequencies that they had.
The airlines naturally lowered their frequency.
There are fewer people traveling.
Empty planes do not travel anywhere, "they point out from the Avantrip agency.
Reschedule and rearrange
Little by little, the changes implemented by the airlines are reaching the travel agencies.
At All Seasons, Pablo Bazzetti, general manager, confirmed this and points out that "rescheduling will have to be done, I don't think there are too many inconveniences due to the number of people who are traveling abroad."
And he points out that
people are already asking questions
about this.
Also Magalí Álvarez Howlin, Marketing manager of the Volala agency, pointed out that "the impact of the low frequency and suspension of airline flights is seen in the extra amount of rescheduling we are receiving."
The flexibility to reschedule, essential in times of pandemic.
Photo: Shutterstock
“The airlines must be in charge of rearranging their schedules to comply with the request.
People who already have their tickets should wait for the indications of the airline or agency -depending on where they bought the ticket-, and know if their flight was rescheduled or canceled, and in any case the available options ", said Matías Mute, from the blog Promos Aéreas and added: "In sales, we assume that there will be a brake until we know a little more about the new schedules of each airline."
Logically, these types of measures have an impact on travelers who have already purchased their tickets.
But they are
not surprising
: whoever buys an air ticket in a pandemic knows that
uncertainty
dominates the rules of the game and that is why flexibility and the possibility of changes are essential.
"When you call the passenger to warn, he understands the rescheduling situation and takes it as a security issue, he does not perceive it as a punishment," they explained in Avantrip, on the basis of the exchanges they have had with their passengers.
The airlines are already communicating the rescheduling.
Photo: Shutterstock
The confidence of the traveler
Although flexibility and the possibility of reprogramming is something that is already installed in airlines and travel agencies, it is important to remember that
the traveler has the right to reprogram
the service "without additional costs, even in cases where their tickets do not allow changes. or, if the purpose of the trip is frustrated, request the return of the ticket ".
This is how Diego Benítez, a lawyer specialized in Tourism Law, explains it.
Benítez, who is working in a committee of the
World Tourism Organization
with the aim of developing a Code for the Protection of Tourists, emphasizes the issue of traveler confidence.
“We are working to
achieve consensus
,
that governments do not cancel all flights
, except for some destinations.
The reduction of frequencies, in some way, guarantees the return
to the countries of origin, without excess expenses as happened at the beginning of the pandemic ”, explains the specialist.
The tourism industry requires the confidence of travelers, that people are encouraged to travel to be able to emerge (little by little) from the crisis in which they are submerged.
The experience of those
stranded
around the world at the start of the pandemic in 2020 is still fresh in people's memories.
Look also
Permission to circulate in summer: how to process it and which provinces request it
Summer 2021: eight secluded and quiet beaches on the Atlantic Coast for the holidays
