Why Mexico will recover in air travel faster than the rest of the countries in Latin America

In 2019, before the pandemic, more than 120 million people mobilized through the country, according to figures from the Ministry of Communications and Transportation

In 2020, many countries, including the United States, decided to close their borders for several months to avoid more COVID-19 infections; however, Mexico was one of the nations that imposed null restrictions on aviation and that were criticized.

And it is that being one of the favorite destinations for foreign tourists, it would have affected the country’s economy to a greater extent. Thanks to this decision, the number of flights will recover faster than even the average for the whole world, according to the Latin American Air Transport Association (ALTA).

During the work of the summit of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC, for its acronym in English), José Ricardo Botelho, president of the international institution, assured this Wednesday that Mexico, Brazil and Chile will have healthy aviation levels in 2023. The recovery for Latin America will be 2025, but each country has a specificity […] Three countries like Mexico, Brazil and Chile never closed the skies, they applied biosafety protocols that were carried out by the group where ICAO ALTA is located, IATA. For these countries, we believe that the recovery will be stronger

MEXICO CITY, MARCH 26, 2021.- Activity in terminal 1 of the Mexico City International Airport (AICM) during the Easter holidays.

It is worth mentioning that both Mexico and Brazil lead the ranking of the most deaths accumulated by SARS-CoV-2, being the third and second, respectively, according to the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

In addition, he said that they estimate that global aviation will recover from the hit of the pandemic in 2024, but noted that the airline industry has the advantage that it can move its assets (planes). Once the demand grows, the airlines will be ready to bring the aircraft and make them available to the people

In the country, at least in 2019, before the pandemic, more than 120 million people are mobilized by plane, according to figures from the Ministry of Communications and Transportation (SCT).

“As we do not receive financial aid from governments, the associations have worked to have better conditions, to have the possibility of reopening more easily,” he declared.

Regarding the redesign of the airspace in the Valley of Mexico, the manager commented that all government decisions that seek to help the sector are positive, so from ALTA, we will help as necessary.

Mexican aviation in danger of falling to category 2

The inspectors of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the United States concluded last week the aviation security audit that they carried out to the Federal Civil Aviation Agency (AFAC) and within 30 days, from Monday, they will decide whether Mexican aviation will retain its category 1 or be downgraded to 2,  which would be chaotic for the sector.

The Embraer 190 of the Mexican airline Aeroméxico lands on Monday, May 7, 2012, at the international airport of El Salvador in Comalapa.

In an interview with  El Financiero, Carlos Rodríguez Munguía, general director of the AFAC, warned that the downgrading of Mexican aviation would be chaos:  national airlines would not be able to open new routes, flights of Mexican firms to the United States would not be possible and shared codes would lose their validity. With the health emergency that we are already reduced in the number of passengers, if we add this (the degradation of the rating), it would be chaos, this uncertainty has caused concern in the leaders of the airlines, the industry in general

The former Air Force commander acknowledged that FAA inspectors found deficiencies in the structure of the Federal Civil Aviation Agency due to a  lack of personnel in the verification and inspection area and little training.

PUERTO MORELOS, QUINTANA ROO, MARCH 13, 2021.- National and foreign tourists enjoy the beach and the weather during this long weekend. The state is in a Yellow Traffic Light due to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

In addition to the fact that the AFAC does not have the powers to inspect and sanction airlines, airports and other players in the industry, which is expected to be amended by Congress, which will issue legislation to provide the Agency with these characteristics.

In the world,  only eight countries are in category 2: Venezuela, Ghana, Pakistan, Thailand, Malaysia, Bahamas, Curaçao and the countries that are part of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States.

Maintaining the category is of vital importance because American tourism represents around six out of every 10 international travelers who arrive in the country and on whom, to a large extent, destinations such as Los Cabos, Cancun, as well as Puerto Vallarta, depend.

Source: infobae.com

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