Raúl – his last name is preserved -, an Argentine who is in the United States and had tickets to return to Argentina in the next few days, received a surprising communication this morning from his airline. His flight will be rescheduled because the destination country, in this case his homeland, decided to reduce air frequencies due to the increase in coronavirus cases.

He knew that the government had banned trips to Brazil, Chile, and Mexico. And that the National Civil Aviation Administration (ANAC) had reorganized the landings to generate a temporary window between flight and flight that would allow the health authorities to comply with current tests and protocols. But he had not heard anything about the suspension of operations with the United States and so he called the company. On the other end of the phone, he heard the following explanation: “Argentina informed us that it will only allow four landings per day at the Ezeiza Airport and we are working to reorganize all the flights that we had scheduled.”

Strictly speaking, the decision of the Alberto Fernández administration is not secret, but it practically did not transpire. Two days ago, the Minister of Transport, Mario Meoni, announced it during a tour of the Ezeiza Airport at the beginning of stricter controls: “We plan a flight restriction system gradually, we are reducing frequencies until reaching 4 a day in mid-April”.

His sayings are supported by an article of administrative resolution 219/21, which enables the ANAC to reduce frequencies in the framework of the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic. Since the rule was published in the Official Gazette, positive cases of coronavirus have not stopped increasing. And for this reason the authorities have already begun to make decisions aimed at restricting the movement of people. In fact, in the next few hours there will be a meeting between Alberto Fernández and Horacio Rodríguez Larreta to analyze new measures.

This regulation also provides for a maximum entry and exit limit to the country in international commercial flights of 2000 people per day. On that basis, a “gradual and decreasing flow” of passengers will be established. The main argument is to achieve an adequate space between each operation to guarantee the performance of the controls.

Mario Meoni reported a reduction in the frequency of flights

“Flights have not been cut, what is being done is restricting the quantity. We had 18 daily frequencies a week ago, now we are at 11 and surely next week we will go down to seven daily frequencies and so on gradually until reaching 4, 5 or 6 daily frequencies if necessary, “said Meoni during his visit to one of the few entry points to Argentina that is still open.

And he added: “The frequency is programmed so that at the end or mid-April we will be on 4 daily frequencies, that will be the totality including regional destinations, Europe, the United States and connectivity with Asia. There are two companies that fly from Asia that are going to have frequency every 15 days. This will be until the health situation establishes that it is possible to return to a different frequency level ”.

The reduction of arrivals began to be reflected notoriously last week in Ezeiza. Aeronautical sources informed Infobae that on March 21, 20 flights arrived; on March 25, 14; March 28, 12 and March 30, 6. Yesterday, March 31, there were 10 landings. And the political decision is to accelerate that process to reach the average of 4 operations that Meoni announced as soon as possible.

The airlines have already taken note. Aerolineas Argentinas, which usually has 11 weekly connections between Buenos Aires and Miami, dropped to 3. Something similar began to be done by American Airlines and United, which applied strong reductions in the number of operations involving the Ezeiza airport.

The frequency cut adds complications for Argentines who traveled to countries that until last week were not considered a threat by the Argentine authorities. Corporate sources consulted by this means assured that they understand the precautionary measures adopted against countries where there is community circulation of the most contagious strains of coronavirus, but not with respect to nations that are beginning to leave the virus behind with successful vaccination campaigns. For example, this Thursday it was confirmed that the United States has already immunized more than 100 million people. And there are not few Argentines who travel these days to that country to be vaccinated.

At the same time, strict controls remain in force for travelers, who in some cases are swabbed three times, must sign an affidavit and quarantine.

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