Canada Suspends Flights to Mexico

In an effort to stop the spread of COVID-19, Canada has suspended all flights to Mexico and the Caribbean. Soon after the announcement, Aeroméxico reported that all of their flights to Canada will also come to a complete stop. Due to the lack of sanitary measures enforced in Mexican flights, such as requiring a negative COVID-19 test, an affidavit, and suggested quarantine, for passengers that enter Mexico, flights to Mexican and Caribbean destinations are being put on hold, according to Forbes. Air Canada, Air Transat, WestJet and Sunwing are some of the airlines that have suspended flights until April 30th. 

These measures translate into a US$782 million loss, according to Miguel Torruco, head of the Ministry of Tourism (SECTUR). “These measures enforced by the Canadian government will also reduce the flow of Mexican travelers to that country, a drop representing approximately 372,000 tourists, and a US$368 million loss,” reported Forbes. In 2020, Mexico became the third most visited country in the world, despite a 59.2 percent decrease in the number of passengers on international flights. In response to Canada´s announcement, Aerméxico stated that their flights to Canada will also be suspended starting from Feb. 8th and Will run until April 30th, according to Amércia Vuela.

A previous MBN article mentioned that travel restrictions are complicating the sector's recovery. Despite Mexico not restricting national flights, its airlines have suffered monetary losses due ta contraction in demand. The same article mentions that international travel has decreased by 88.3 percent and in Latin America alone it has fallen 59.8 percent. This situation has worried the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC). Gloria Guevara Manzo, CEO of WTTC mentioned that these new restrictions will have an impact on the economy of the entire area given that this sector provides one out of ten jobs in the world. In Canada alone, the travel and tourism sector generates 1 million 670 thousand jobs, despite Canadaefficiently controlling contagions, if its tourism sector does not reactivate, the economic recovery will be more complicated, stated Guevara Manzo in a Forbes article.