Political Instability Causes 5 Peruvian Airports To Temporarily Close
The Political instability and ongoing protests in Peru following the failed coup d’État from former president Pedro Castillo have led to the temporary closure of at least five airports throughout the country. Peru’s primary hub, Lima International Airport (LIM), remains open. Several airlines, such as Avianca, LATAM, and Sky Airline, have announced measures to protect their clients.
What’s going on in Peru?
Nine days ago, Pedro Castillo attempted to dissolve the Peruvian Congress and create a government that would rule by decree. A few hours later, he was arrested and accused of rebellion. The vice president of Peru, Dina Boluarte, was sworn into office, becoming the sixth president in five years. In the meantime, Pedro Castillo remains detained after a judge ruled 18 months of preventive prison for the former president.
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Pedro Castillo’s ousting has led to massive protests throughout the country. As reported by media outlets, at least 16 people have been killed in violent clashes, as thousands of Castillo’s supporters protested to demand his reinstatement. Additionally, around 200 civilians and 200 police officers have been injured in clashes.
This political uncertainty throughout the country has directly impacted the local civil aviation industry.
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How has this impacted the civil aviation industry?
Until Thursday, five airports had closed due to the ongoing protests in the country. These airports are Andahuaylas (ANS), Arequipa (AQP), Juliaca (JUL), Cuzco (CUZ), and Ayacucho (AYP). Regularly, these airports have close to 500 weekly flights operated by four airlines, Sky Airline, JetSMART, LATAM Airlines, and Viva Peru. Lima International, the main gateway of the country, remains open.
As reported by El Comercio, a local media outlet in Peru, Andahuaylas Airport was the first to close. Protesters seriously damaged the runway and air traffic control offices.
Cuzco and Arequipa airports, two of the main hubs in the country after Lima, were also damaged by protesters. El Comercio reports severe damage, such as the destruction of the perimeter fence, safety signs, the removal of parts of the runway edges, and more.
What have the airport and airlines in the country said?
Lima Airport Partners, the airport administrator of Lima International, has been informing on social media about the closure of other hubs in the country. It has also announced new security measures to “guarantee the safety of our passengers, users, and collaborators of the Jorge Chavez Airport.” These are the four security measures:
- Only passengers showing their boarding passes are allowed to enter the airport.
- Only accredited passengers and the driver of the vehicle will be allowed to enter through the vehicular access.
- To pick up passengers, only the driver of the vehicle will be able to enter.
- These security measures were introduced on Thursday, December 15, and will remain until further notice.
The airlines operating in impacted airports have announced they have introduced flexibility measures for their passengers. LATAM Airlines said its passengers will be able to change their flights free of charge. Sky Airline announced the same measure but added the possibility of a travel voucher for passengers not interested in rescheduling their flights. Avianca announced the flexibility to change their tickets to passengers looking to fly to Lima International.
Source: The New York Times, El Comercio.
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