Falkland Islands and LATAM Airlines discuss flight resumption from Chile and Brazil
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – LATAM Chile has a weekly flight to the Falkland Islands from Punta Arenas on Saturdays with a monthly stopover in Rio Gallegos. LATAM Brazil has a weekly flight on Wednesdays from São Paulo with a monthly stopover in Córdoba, which has been interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The resumption of commercial air links between the Falkland Islands and the South American continent was again on the table for discussion in the Legislative Assembly this week but without further progress.
Reporting member, legislator-elect Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) Mark Pollard, revealed that the Falkland government was in talks with the British government about the possibility of chartering a flight so that those in the Islands with roots in South America could visit family and friends. Still, he admitted he could not give any advance on the progress of those talks or their status.
MLA Pollard said he did not want to be seen as improvising on the issue, “whether we are opening or closing,” but “we want to resume flights as soon as possible,” given the circumstances.
Legislator MLA Teslyn Barkman asked what circumstances must be overcome before the resumption of flights. MLA Pollard responded that the local government is in “permanent dialogue” with LATAM Airlines on the issue. A meeting is scheduled for the end of January.
MLA Pollard added that a wide range of issues must be considered beforehand, including quarantine requirements, the emergence of new covid variants, border policies of the countries involved, the status of international airports, and vaccination programs in the Falkland Islands themselves, as well as a sufficient time frame for flights to resume.
“In any event, the government remains committed to resuming both routes, to Chile and Brazil,” MLA Pollard reiterated. “We intend to work towards reopening one or both routes, depending on the variables mentioned earlier.”
The Falkland legislator did anticipate that there will be some three months of preparation required by LATAM to resume flights once the decision has been made to restart the links effectively.
With information from Mercopress
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