In an August 20th article for Simple Flying, titled “Connectivity Between the US and Central America”, author Martínez Garbuno discusses pre-Covid and current flight connections between the USA and Central American Destinations.
He suggests that “In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Central America has become one of the main destinations for US travelers” and gives the reason for that as “Local governments easing their travel restrictions”.
Whereas that might be the case (for example) with Costa Rica, dropping their requirements for Covid Tests prior to entry and exempting those who are vaccinated, it’s not the case for all Central American countries.
While Nicaragua waits patiently for American, United and Spirit Airlines to return to Managua International Airport, those same airlines are launching new flights to other Central American countries, for example; Spirit to Tegucigalpa in Honduras.
Eastern Airlines did add one route between Miami and Managua which adds to the modest schedule of incoming flights from Avianca and Copa.
Garbuno says that according to Cirium (the largest, aviation data service), there are 7.2% more flights and 9.5% more seats between the US and Central America than there was prior to the Covid pandemic. United Airlines have announced “the largest number of new routes to Central American Destinations, compared to 2019”.
For a full listing of the new routes compared to August 2019, click on this link to the Simple Flying article.
In other regional airline news, TAG Airlines made their inaugural flights between Guatemala-Cancun and Guatemala-Tapachula, celebrating the start of their operations in Mexico. The routes are aimed at business and leisure travelers. TAG Airlines is a 100 percent Guatemalan company with 50 years of experience and currently operates 27 daily flights in Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Belize and now in Mexico.
Also, the Mexican carrier Volaris is looking at increasing its presence in Central America with a new division called Vuela El Salvador (or simply Volaris El Salvador) as a low-cost national operator in El Salvador.
