The General Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGAC ) ordered that, for 21 days, all charter or private flights that enter the country empty to take passengers from Ecuador, to the different destination points or connections, will be authorized.
Ecuador authorizes private flights to remove passengers from Ecuador
The measure seeks to facilitate the departure of people, given the few flight alternatives that can be generated after the prohibition of international arrivals , a measure announced by the Government this Saturday, March 14, in order to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
The Vice President of the Republic, Otto Sonnenholzner , through the national chain announced that as of Sunday, March 15, from 11:59 pm, the entry into the country of people of foreign nationality arriving in Ecuador by air, sea or land is suspended. . Likewise, Ecuadorian citizens who are abroad may return and enter the country only until 11:59 p.m. on Monday, March 16 of the current year.
In the next few hours, the DGAC said in a statement, until the execution of these new measures begins, with the aim of preventing the spread of the virus and protecting the health of citizens, people who come to Ecuador must comply with the review. medical or Mandatory Preventive Isolation, according to current protocols. The crews of each airline will not enter the Mandatory Preventive Isolation . They will use their own protocols and procedures to ensure they don’t miss their flight schedules and ensure connectivity. However, in the event that crew members are detected to have symptoms of coronavirus, the protocols established by the Ministry of Public Health will be applied.
Freight flights , he clarified, will normally operate in and out of Ecuador to guarantee commercial activities and avoid shortages of products in the country. Internal flights, meanwhile, will be maintained normally and with the application of the corresponding security protocols.
However, the Government has not referred to the return problems that Ecuadorians who wish to return to the country may have. The announcement to prevent entry has already generated the reaction of citizens such as Luis Cobo, who expected the arrival of his son and his family (wife and three children) from Spain on March 25.
Now with this decision, he said, the return will be impossible. Hence, he called on the authorities to make the measure more flexible with nationals. ” How can they not be able to return to their own country? It is good that upon arrival here they enter quarantine, but not that they are completely prohibited from entering. The situation in Spain is complicated, they are at risk there, ”he said.
