More questions than answers on how the daily income limit of 600 air passengers will be implemented

The National Civil Aviation Administration (ANAC) and the airlines are working against the clock to prepare for the rescheduling of flights for Monday which allows them to comply with the government measure, through provision 1.798, signed by the Chief of Staff, Santiago Cafiero, of limit the entry of people by air into Argentine territory to a maximum of 600 per day, which means a 70% reduction compared to the 2,000 people who could enter, under the previous arrangements.

The provision further implies a border closure which can only be changed by exceptions provided for by the National Directorate of Migration “When there are special and accredited humanitarian reasons which justify it”, with the authorizations of Health and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. And provincial governments can propose, “Exceptionally and temporarily” and “for urgent or humanitarian reasons” the opening of border posts located in their territory, in consultation with Health and Migration, also establishing a “safe corridor”.

In the case of air revenue, the measure says that “ANAC, acting within the framework of the Ministry of Transport, will have a quota of 600 daily seats on passenger flights for the re-entry into the national territory of Argentines, Argentines and residents who are abroad ”, but it also authorizes it to “increase, decrease or eliminate the said quota, after intervention of the national health authority”.

“We are working tirelessly on it; It was decided not to apply the new quota until Monday to protect stopover passengers or the PCR test could be beaten There will be no further news until Monday, ”they said from ANAC.

“The idea is that the flights are not suspended, but that they come with a different job”, underlined in turn the Ministry of Transport. “It means reprogramming and ANAC is working with the companies, who are the ones who should be doing it.”

The guide appears vague and complex to implement for businesses, especially those making intercontinental or long-distance travel, although the government has indicated that The ANAC already has gymnastics in this procedure, from the moment it had to implement it for the quota of 2,000 daily entries.

On the previous occasion, they said, the main aspect to be rescheduled was arrival times, so that between flights there would be enough time to finish the swabs and avoid the crowds. This problem would no longer exist, because by reducing the quota there are fewer people and the swabbing capacity has also been increased.

Suddenly

On the other hand, the problem of adapting to such a sudden drop in the number of admissions and the complexity of rescheduling flights that are generally booked and purchased weeks or even months in advance on planes that can carry between 200 and 400 passengers.

From Aerolineas Argentinas they said they were awaiting specific guidance from Transport and ANAC, while from a private company they said “we still have no news”.

To measure the challenge, we must take into account, for example, that for this Saturday Ezeiza airport has scheduled the arrival of 17 international flights, including 4 from Aerolineas Argentinas. If the quota of 600 passengers were to be respected while maintaining the number of flights, they would have to carry an average of 35 passengers each. For Sunday there are 13 international flights, including 5 from Aerolineas Argentinas. For the quota of 600 receipts, the planes are expected to carry, on average, 46 passengers.

In the new phase, the government ordered that until July 9 the borders remain closed to tourism and that flights from the United Kingdom, Chile, Brazil, India, African countries and Turkey remain suspended.

In addition, Argentines returning from abroad between July 1 and August 31 must isolate themselves in places determined by the provincial governments and CABA, for 10 days, counted from tests carried out in the country of origin.

In all cases, the costs will be borne by the passengers and the Government has warned that it will monitor compliance with the period of home isolation and will file criminal complaints in the event of non-compliance, invoking articles 205 and 239 of the Penal Code, “for violation of measures against epidemics and disobedience to public authority “, which contemplate prison sentences of 6 months to 2 years and 15 days to 1 year, rspecifically.

To be allowed, those traveling must undergo a test to be able to board the plane to Argentina, also tested on arrival and again on the seventh day of entry. The “negatives” must respect the isolation and the positive ones to do a “genomic sequencing” test (to detect the variant of the virus) and, with their close contacts, isolate themselves in places indicated by the authorities.

Variants and risk

In the recitals of provision 1.798 the Government underlines the risk of certain variants of the virus, in particular the so-called “Delta”, originally from India and considered a ‘variant of concern’ by the World Health Organization (WHO).

This variant, says the official standard, explains 85% of the circulation of the virus in India and 90% of the circulation in the United Kingdom, in addition to pointing out that during the entire month of June its incidence in the United States increased from 10 in 30% of cases. detected.

According to the genomic analysis, says the disposition, it appears that in Argentina the variants Alpha, Gamma (line P.1-Manaos), Zeta (P.2-Rio de Janeiro), Epsilon (B.1.427-California ), Iota (B .1.526-New York) and Lambda (C.37 descending from variant B.1.1.1 – Andina).

Of the Delta and Beta variants, he says cases have been isolated in travelers, but no community transmission has been recorded. In the current epidemiological context, he continues, “the risk of introducing new variants that are even more transmissible could generate a strong and strong increase in cases, which would inevitably lead to a higher mortality”. And he points out that “the effectiveness of vaccines against the Delta variant is unknown.”

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