there are almost 30 thousand Argentinian tourists abroad and their return to the country is complicated

Today there are around 110,000 Argentines abroad, according to official data. Of this number, 27,000 are tourists, meaning that they will have to return home in the weeks or months to come. These figures coexist with a narrow context, where air restrictions have already started and travel outside Argentina is discouraged by official voices.

This Monday, 20 international flights will land in Ezeiza and 22 more will take off for Miami, Frankfurt, Santiago de Chile, Lima and São Paulo, among other destinations. Passengers on these flights will be part of a limited but current movement that poses a question: based on a scenario of closures, How and when will these people return?

To date, 68 Aerolineas Argentinas flights have been suspended: 40 corresponding to March and 28 to April. Among those canceled this weekend, one went to Rio de Janeiro, another to São Paulo and a third to Madrid. Since none of them took off, return flights scheduled on these routes were also canceled. Admittedly, this Monday a plane was to leave for Rio de Janeiro, but that will not happen either.

Latam also established cancellations. In recent days, it has reduced its operations by 30% in Santiago de Chile, 70% in São Paulo and 30% in Lima. Thus, it went from ten to eight weekly frequencies in Santiago de Chile, from ten to seven in Lima, and from five to three in San Pablo.

And according to what was expected, not only Aerolineas Argentinas and Latam will be the lines with limits. Air traffic between countries must comply with administrative decision 219/2021, published on March 13 and valid, for the moment, until April 9.

The text sets a more tenuous or substantial restriction, depending on the destination. With Brazil, there has already been a 50% reduction in monthly air travel frequencies, which have dropped to 70%. At the same time, with the United States, there was a limit of 30%, which was raised to 40%. For Mexico and European countries, the 30% reduction was maintained and in the case of flights to Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Panama and Chile, it was decided to establish the same percentage. The aim is to reduce the advance of new variants of the coronavirus in the country.

This is not the first time this year that such a measure has been decided. At the end of January, the government also restricted international air flow. Then, among travelers, doubts arose about the holidays already scheduled. Many of these requests resulted in dozens of calls and emails to travel agencies and airlines. Unlike the previous ones, the current limitations occur in a period outside of summer and are associated with transfers made for different reasons – work, medical care, care of a family member, tourism, among others. But uncertainty reappears.

Since December, land border crossings have been closed to Argentines and foreigners, and the plane is the only means of passenger transport allowed. Those traveling from abroad to Argentina should undergo a PCR analysis a maximum of 72 hours in advance to determine if there is contagion of COVID-19. And they must comply with seven or more days of quarantine at an informed address, up to 10 days have passed since the PCR sample was collected.

Martín will travel from Madrid to Buenos Aires. He will arrive at Easter. He booked an Airbnb to quarantine it on Buenos Aires soil, but heard news from Argentina and worries he will be forced to go to a hotel and lose previously made reservations. He asks his Argentinian relatives to inform him of any update or change in plans.

Gonzalo and Soledad have their tickets for Miami. The initial trip was in 2020, but the pandemic cut it off and postponed it until May of this year. Now, with the new restrictions, they fear the same will happen again. For them, May is near and far at the same time and they try not to despair in the face of the lack of forethought imposed by the virus.

Although what amazes them the most is the comeback. Air borders are still open today but, in the event that the health situation becomes even more complicated, it will be the passengers themselves who will have to bear all the costs that the situation entails: sources of the National Directorate of Migration confirmed in Clarín that there will be no repatriation flights. Gonzalo and Soledad also live outside the city of Buenos Aires, so it also depends on whether their province admits them.

“Today cancellations are not a problem since the occupancy of flights allows passengers to relocate within a reasonable period of time, a day or two at the most,” a spokesperson for Aerolineas Argentinas told Clarín. And he continued: “It is not the situation of total closure that was experienced at the beginning when special flights were made to bring in passengers.”

So far the largest group of Argentines stranded outside the country are the 143 students who were on a graduate study trip to Cancun, Mexico, and contracted Covid-19. There are 87 boys in one hotel and 56 in another. They will stay there until they are released.

GS