Welcome to the Central America Aviation Thread 2021. Please continue to post your news and your discussion here.

Link to previous thread:

Central American Aviation Thread - 2020

will be interesting to watch in 2021 how much of the expansion in Cent America by F9, AA, UA, B6 et al survives. There is clearly going to be a lot of capacity and I don't expect CM and AV to take it lying down. Also how much appetite will Volaris have to be in the market with their expansion needs at MEX.

F9 and B6 are here to stay. I do wonder what AV will become in the region and how much of UA’s adds stay. DL and AA were the least aggressive of all.

CM issued a press release via social media today informing that the Cuban regime had reduced its current 20 weekly frequencies to thrice weekly service (flying Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays) due to Covid-19 travel restrictions.

I think B6 will add The following this year to Central America.
JFK/LAX/FLL-SAL
JFK/LAX-SAP
LAX-GUA

It will be an interesting 2021. Hope all airports recover their traffic pre-covid, it will be difficult

We have to take into account the worldwide sanitary period, prior to wish the spread of new routes touching Central America.
The aviation industry was extremely hitted last year and probably the demand of passengers through our regional airports hasn't reached at least the 50% of its normal volume.
Having said that, we wouldn't expect a huge number of new routes, in the short-trem.
The airlines based in Central America haven't resumed some of their scheduled routes operated before the Covid-19 crisis.

Happy 2021 and best wishes to everyone on this board !

This retro imagine introduces a recap of the 2020 regional aviation behavior.
The airlines operating Central America are slowly resuming their normal operations.

January 04: [WN BZE-DEN] END
January 28: CC LCE-RTB 3x weekly L4T NEW
May 10: [F9 GUA-MIA 7x weekly + F9 ONT-GUA 7x weekly] DID NOT START
June 01: B6 JFK-GUA 7x weekly, 320 DID NOT START
June 11: NK MSY-SAP 3x weekly, 320/319 DID NOT START
June 18: [F9 SAL-BWI 3x weekly + F9 SAL-MIA 3x weekly + F9 SAL-ONT] DID NOT START
November 24: 9N BZE-SAL B1900 NEW
November 28: EA GUA-JFK 1x weekly, 767 NEW
December 17: UA LAX-SAP 3x weekly NEW
December 17: UA IAD-SAL. 7x to 11x weekly.
December 17: UA SFO-LIR 1x weekly, 739 NEW
December 18: [B6 LAX-LIR 2x weekly 320 + B6 LAX-SJO 7x weekly 320] NEW
December 19: DL JFK-SAL 7x weekly, 738 NEW
December 19: UA LAX-SJO 1x weekly, 738 NEW
December 19: UA DEN-BZE 1x weekly, 738 NEW
December 19: UA DEN-SJO 1x weekly, 738 RESUMPTION
December 20: UA LAX-GUA 7x to 10x weekly
December 20: UA LAX-SAL 7x to 11x weekly

SJOtoLIR wrote:

This retro imagine introduces a recap of the 2020 regional aviation behavior.
The airlines operating Central America are slowly resuming their normal operations.

January 04: [WN BZE-DEN] END
January 28: CC LCE-RTB 3x weekly L4T NEW
May 10: [F9 GUA-MIA 7x weekly + F9 ONT-GUA 7x weekly] DID NOT START
June 01: B6 JFK-GUA 7x weekly, 320 DID NOT START
June 11: NK MSY-SAP 3x weekly, 320/319 DID NOT START
June 18: [F9 SAL-BWI 3x weekly + F9 SAL-MIA 3x weekly + F9 SAL-ONT] DID NOT START
November 24: 9N BZE-SAL B1900 NEW
November 28: EA GUA-JFK 1x weekly, 767 NEW
December 17: UA LAX-SAP 3x weekly NEW
December 17: UA IAD-SAL. 7x to 11x weekly.
December 17: UA SFO-LIR 1x weekly, 739 NEW
December 18: [B6 LAX-LIR 2x weekly 320 + B6 LAX-SJO 7x weekly 320] NEW
December 19: DL JFK-SAL 7x weekly, 738 NEW
December 19: UA LAX-SJO 1x weekly, 738 NEW
December 19: UA DEN-BZE 1x weekly, 738 NEW
December 19: UA DEN-SJO 1x weekly, 738 RESUMPTION
December 20: UA LAX-GUA 7x to 10x weekly
December 20: UA LAX-SAL 7x to 11x weekly

Looks like UA wants to challenge AV traffic between Central America and its hubs.
IMHO, NK MSY-SAP still under these circumstances, might have some passenger demand and AV has shown no interest to return to former TACA route SAL-MSY.
Also, there might be demand for at least once per week UA LAX-MGA, MGA-LAX red-eyes both ways.

SJOtoLIR wrote:

This retro imagine introduces a recap of the 2020 regional aviation behavior.
The airlines operating Central America are slowly resuming their normal operations.

January 04: [WN BZE-DEN] END
January 28: CC LCE-RTB 3x weekly L4T NEW
May 10: [F9 GUA-MIA 7x weekly + F9 ONT-GUA 7x weekly] DID NOT START
June 01: B6 JFK-GUA 7x weekly, 320 DID NOT START
June 11: NK MSY-SAP 3x weekly, 320/319 DID NOT START
June 18: [F9 SAL-BWI 3x weekly + F9 SAL-MIA 3x weekly + F9 SAL-ONT] DID NOT START
November 24: 9N BZE-SAL B1900 NEW
November 28: EA GUA-JFK 1x weekly, 767 NEW
December 17: UA LAX-SAP 3x weekly NEW
December 17: UA IAD-SAL. 7x to 11x weekly.
December 17: UA SFO-LIR 1x weekly, 739 NEW
December 18: [B6 LAX-LIR 2x weekly 320 + B6 LAX-SJO 7x weekly 320] NEW
December 19: DL JFK-SAL 7x weekly, 738 NEW
December 19: UA LAX-SJO 1x weekly, 738 NEW
December 19: UA DEN-BZE 1x weekly, 738 NEW
December 19: UA DEN-SJO 1x weekly, 738 RESUMPTION
December 20: UA LAX-GUA 7x to 10x weekly
December 20: UA LAX-SAL 7x to 11x weekly

Don't forget December 18: SY MSP RTB, 1Xweekly 738 NEW

LightChop2Chop wrote:

Don't forget December 18: SY MSP RTB, 1Xweekly 738 NEW

Excellent news for Roatan island !
Speaking about Honduras, SAP resumed their operations again on December 23rd, after 47 days of zero activity due to the recent hurricanes hitting Central America.

Regards.

I’ve been monitoring SAP, but have seen all AA, UA, DL, NK, and AV flights as cancelled on Flightradar24. Freight flights appear as unknown results so I’m assuming they are also cancelled. What I did see was that the AEA flight from Madrid went to LCE. I also saw NK operated 2 flights to Palmerola a few weeks ago. Anyone have any other information when normal operations begin?

skybird77 wrote:

I’ve been monitoring SAP, but have seen all AA, UA, DL, NK, and AV flights as cancelled on Flightradar24. Freight flights appear as unknown results so I’m assuming they are also cancelled. What I did see was that the AEA flight from Madrid went to LCE. I also saw NK operated 2 flights to Palmerola a few weeks ago. Anyone have any other information when normal operations begin?

Two Cat 5 hurricanes passed throw C.A. and SAP was the major airport that suffered damages and it was flooded twice.

TAG Airlines and local airlines have already started operations in SAP and AEA I think will start operations on the second half of January.

Regards.

Based on some Honduran press releases, SAP is officially opened once again since the last days of 2020.

https://www.aviacionline.com/2020/12/honduras-reabrio-el-aeropuerto-de-san-pedro-sula/

However, the operations haven't reached their normal levels yet.

American Airlines will start flying the 737 MAX to Guatemala City starting February 11 from Miami.
Dallas will continue with 737-800

The [SJO-LIM] route hasn't operated again.
AV SJO-LIM showed a very low demand of passengers, since the last five years and LP LIM-SJO 3x weekly is not working yet.

SAP started progressive resuming of operations.

On December 30th, operations started with domestic flights.

Then, on January 3rd, Spirit resumed FLL, and during the week, IAH and MCO.

The following week, UX, AA and UA to IAH and EWR.

AV is resuming this week.

CM and DL start on February 2.

AASAP777 wrote:

SAP started progressive resuming of operations.

On December 30th, operations started with domestic flights.

Then, on January 3rd, Spirit resumed FLL, and during the week, IAH and MCO.

The following week, UX, AA and UA to IAH and EWR.

AV is resuming this week.

CM and DL start on February 2.

When do normal cargo operations resume (Amerijet, UPS, IFL)? I saw at the beginning of the closure that IFL changed the MIA-GUA-SAP-MIA run to LCE, now it’s SAL. DHL did have some activity yesterday. Glad to see things are starting to get normal. Things were real bad in the area. My cousin lives in La Lima (town next to the airport - for those of you unfamiliar with the area) and his house was flooded. I was pleasantly surprised to see AA sending down the 788 from here in MIami.

skybird77 wrote:

AASAP777 wrote:

I was pleasantly surprised to see AA sending down the 788 from here in MIami.

AA is sending daily flights with 788 to SAP, SAL and PTY

juanchito wrote:

American Airlines will start flying the 737 MAX to Guatemala City starting February 11

SAP and SJO will also receive the MAX starting the same day.

Managua, Nicaragua is featuring the slowest recovery in all our geographical area.
Only some routes prior to the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis are operating there.
We haven't found any evidence about the resumption of CM MGA-SJO, CM MGA-GUA, AM MEX-MGA, NK FLL-MGA, UA MGA-IAH and so forth.
DL had completely abandoned Managua since many months ago and CM PTY-MGA is barely flying such route.

Got to see that ONT Airport made an announcement on its Facebook page that AV will operate thrice weekly SAL-ONT flights early July.
https://www.flyontario.com/press/ont-expands-international-destinations-it-welcomes-new-nonstop-service-san-salvador-beginning
Would SNA have made more sense for a SAL flight than ONT?

2travel2know2 wrote:

Got to see that ONT Airport made an announcement on its Facebook page that AV will operate thrice weekly SAL-ONT flights early July.
https://www.flyontario.com/press/ont-expands-international-destinations-it-welcomes-new-nonstop-service-san-salvador-beginning
Would SNA have made more sense for a SAL flight than ONT?

Problem with SNA is their strict curfew after 10pm. Most red flights from LAX area to SAL leave after midnight (know this from personal experience)

I see their doing three days a week using the A319. It’s good they did that to gauge if the Route is viable.

many321 wrote:

2travel2know2 wrote:

Got to see that ONT Airport made an announcement on its Facebook page that AV will operate thrice weekly SAL-ONT flights early July.
https://www.flyontario.com/press/ont-expands-international-destinations-it-welcomes-new-nonstop-service-san-salvador-beginning
Would SNA have made more sense for a SAL flight than ONT?

Problem with SNA is their strict curfew after 10pm. Most red flights from LAX area to SAL leave after midnight (know this from personal experience)

I see their doing three days a week using the A319. It’s good they did that to gauge if the Route is viable.

Other than the curfew issue in SNA just imagine that SAL 0430h arriving time (way off AV early morning hub-bank?) with a SNA departure before 2200h.
Perhaps also the Salvadorian/Guatemalan demographics play it in favour of ONT.

2travel2know2 wrote:

many321 wrote:

2travel2know2 wrote:

Got to see that ONT Airport made an announcement on its Facebook page that AV will operate thrice weekly SAL-ONT flights early July.
https://www.flyontario.com/press/ont-expands-international-destinations-it-welcomes-new-nonstop-service-san-salvador-beginning
Would SNA have made more sense for a SAL flight than ONT?

Problem with SNA is their strict curfew after 10pm. Most red flights from LAX area to SAL leave after midnight (know this from personal experience)

I see their doing three days a week using the A319. It’s good they did that to gauge if the Route is viable.

Other than the curfew issue in SNA just imagine that SAL 0430h arriving time (way off AV early morning hub-bank?) with a SNA departure before 2200h.
Perhaps also the Salvadorian/Guatemalan demographics play it in favour of ONT.

Before COVID hit the US, Frontier was going to start ONT-SAL and GUA-SAL flights in May/June 2020 though cancelled once it hit North American shores especially with SAL not letting any flights land in their territory. Perhaps ONT and or Avianca got their internal numbers and saw something for them to launch and catch Frontier off guard since they were going to relaunch the flights once the pandemic was over.

With AV expanding, any chance ORD-SAL or GUA will return?

Rumor is that AV has given notice to RTB and BZE that they are closing those stations permanently.

LightChop2Chop wrote:

Rumor is that AV has given notice to RTB and BZE that they are closing those stations permanently.

Rumor is that FRS will also be dropped.

Juanchito

juanchito wrote:

LightChop2Chop wrote:

Rumor is that AV has given notice to RTB and BZE that they are closing those stations permanently.

Rumor is that FRS will also be dropped.

Juanchito

Losing FRS will be terrible. If that's the case, I hope Volaris comes and and opens up the route once tourism begins to rise.

many321 wrote:

Before COVID hit the US, Frontier was going to start ONT-SAL and GUA-SAL

You meant F9 ONT-GUA.
Frontier indeed planned some routes touching Central America before the Covid-19 crisis that never came true: ONT-SAL, ONT-GUA, MIA-GUA, MIA-SAL and BWI-SAL.
On the other hand, AV SAL-LAX is 3x daily in average, adding the regular services supplied by their competitors: DL LAX-SAL 7x weekly, UA LAX-SAL 7x weekly and Q6 LAX-SAL 3x weekly.
Everything counts up to 6x daily flights in such route: a very dynamic segment, taking into account the slow recovery due to the sanitary crisis worldwide.
Reading between the lines, AV has most likely identified Ontario and surroundings as a very crowded demographical area for this experiment.
The former TACA also flew TA SAL-OAK for a while, as back up for TA SAL-SFO in 2008 or so.

Regards.

LightChop2Chop wrote:

Rumor is that AV has given notice to RTB and BZE that they are closing those stations permanently.

It's a pity the possible demise of these destinations on AV network.
Belize City had been active for years on TACA. I haven't seen Copa Airlines operating at BZE again.
If I recall correctly, AV SAL-BZE was flew by ATR-72s prior to the Covid-19 era.
For the case of Guatemala City - Flores, this segment was owned by Aviateca and also operated by AV on their ATR-72s.

Regards.

avi8 wrote:

juanchito wrote:

LightChop2Chop wrote:

Rumor is that AV has given notice to RTB and BZE that they are closing those stations permanently.

Rumor is that FRS will also be dropped.

Juanchito

Losing FRS will be terrible. If that's the case, I hope Volaris comes and and opens up the route once tourism begins to rise.

Looks like TAG will have a nice monopoly to FRS until someone comes in or AV decides to give the GU legacy route a chance again.
Volaris can't fly the route because they would have to set up a Guatemalan subsidiary and more importantly have a smaller airplane; FRS demand can't fill up an A319 daily by itself even in the pre-COVID days.

Also it seems that Eastern won't be starting JFK-GUA for the while being, all dates were removed from their web page. Can anyone confirm this?

SJOtoLIR wrote:

[quote=
For the case of Guatemala City - Flores, this segment was owned by Aviateca and also operated by AV on their ATR-72s.

Regards.

not sure if AV will try again with ATR 72 later once COVID-19 is behind us

SJOtoLIR wrote:

many321 wrote:

Before COVID hit the US, Frontier was going to start ONT-SAL and GUA-SAL

You meant F9 ONT-GUA.
Frontier indeed planned some routes touching Central America before the Covid-19 crisis that never came true: ONT-SAL, ONT-GUA, MIA-GUA, MIA-SAL and BWI-SAL.
On the other hand, AV SAL-LAX is 3x daily in average, adding the regular services supplied by their competitors: DL LAX-SAL 7x weekly, UA LAX-SAL 7x weekly and Q6 LAX-SAL 3x weekly.
Everything counts up to 6x daily flights in such route: a very dynamic segment, taking into account the slow recovery due to the sanitary crisis worldwide.
Reading between the lines, AV has most likely identified Ontario and surroundings as a very crowded demographical area for this experiment.
The former TACA also flew TA SAL-OAK for a while, as back up for TA SAL-SFO in 2008 or so.

Regards.

Yea, I meant ONT-GUA lmao! I was hiking when I sent this and didn't realize what I had posted lol!

For years I heard rumors of TACA wanting to try out ONT, though never came to fruition. Then, after LAX stopped managing ONT, I began to hear the rumors come up again from ONT management about possibly courting Avianca to ONT in the same way they courted CI to start their ONT-TPE route which were successful though halted thanks to the pandemic.When I heard F9 wanted to start the flights, I was not impressed since their service is abysmal. Glad that Avianca took a risk and finally is trying out ONT.

About the East LA/San Gabriel/Inland Empire area, there are little Central American pockets. For example, the Montclair area (15-20 minutes from ONT) there is a healthy Salvadoran/Guatemalan population that cropped up over the last decade hence the sudden popping up of Central American eateries in Pomona, Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga areas. I do hope they do respond to this and take the flights from ONT than LAX.

aer wrote:

Looks like TAG will have a nice monopoly to FRS until someone comes in or AV decides to give the GU legacy route a chance again.
Volaris can't fly the route because they would have to set up a Guatemalan subsidiary and more importantly have a smaller airplane; FRS demand can't fill up an A319 daily by itself even in the pre-COVID days.

TAG website displays up to 2x daily flights on GUA-FRS, using the 35 seater Saab 340.
My hypothesis is there's no room for AV GUA-FRS for the time being.
On the other hand, Tikal Jets operated GUA-FRS with the DC-9, more than 15 years ago.





Regards.

SJOtoLIR wrote:

Belize City had been active for years on TACA. I haven't seen Copa Airlines operating at BZE again.
If I recall correctly, AV SAL-BZE was flew by ATR-72s prior to the Covid-19 era.
For the case of Guatemala City - Flores, this segment was owned by Aviateca and also operated by AV on their ATR-72s.

Regards.

TA/AV have flown to SAL BZE for almost 75 years, at one point with a 762. It ended using a mix of ATR and 320.
GUA FRS was ATR72.

CM is currently schedule to resume BZE in June as per their website.

Let’s not forget AV operated GUA-FRS twice daily with an ATR pre COVID. It even operated an A319 a while back.

During the jet era, the former TACA usually stopped at BZE on their way to Miami, New Orleans and Houston: BAC 1-11, Boeing 737 and so on.
GRUPO TACA continued this legacy operating TA SAL-BZE-IAH 7x weekly with 319/320.
Probably, it was only flown as AV SAL-BZE and back with E90, 319, 320, ATR-72, since 2012.
The former Continental and UA steadily work on the IAH-BZE sector, undermining the demand of passengers on AV BZE-IAH.
The Covid-19 crisis is demonstrating that any AV SAL-BZE would hardly work well at this time.
Given the absense of both AV and CM in Belize City by now, this country lost the easy connectivity to Central America, the Caribbean and South America.


Taca.
Boeing 737 in Belize City, 1987.


Avianca.
ATR-72 in Belize City, 2017.

SJOtoLIR wrote:

My hypothesis is there's no room for AV GUA-FRS for the time being.

One more point: AV is currently operating under the Chapter 11 bankruptcy due to the known ongoing crisis.
They have recently dropped some routes and destinations as well as the sudden withdrawal of their E90s.
On the other hand, the opening of AV SAL-ONT in July, demonstrates how they're heading for new profitable routes, given the potential of the [SAL-LAX] sector.
They're simultaneously flying both AV SAL-JFK and AV SAL-EWR, being Newark a Star Alliance base. Don't forget AV BOG-MIA and AV BOG-FLL.
That makes a resemblance to the new binomium called AV SAL-LAX and AV SAL-ONT.
Unlike EWR, ONT would be focused exclusively on the O&D traffic.

I do wonder what AV’s plans for Central America are going forward. I remember when in 2018 AV began building up GUA into a secondary hub. I flew in with them in January of 2019 and I thought I was in SAL. There were 6 AV departures around the same time to JFK, ORD, LAX, SAL and SJO.

my feeling is that AV will consolidate around BOG, and slowly cut a lot of SAL. only keeping trunk VFR routes out (and those where range is an issue, like SFO) of SAL. But as they trim they will lose feed, making other routes less viable and so on. Law of diminishing returns.

IberoJet from Spain will operate the Madrid - San Jose sector. twice a week from June.
Equipment: 330, 350.
The airline is owned by Grupo Barcelo and such flights would be focused for leisure travelers.

PTY is a glaring absence in the B6 network. I have to wonder if they might try a late evening to midnight arrival and quick departure into there out of FLL. Such would make sense on the A320 or BCS3. This would cater to VFR travelers. JFK to PTY could also be tried to compete against CM, which before the pandemic was considering a 4th daily flight.

As for range and payload from BOG, the A320neo can do what the A319 does. Could JFK be swapped to the A320neo permanently to free up an A330-200 for SFO?

Before the Covid-19 era:
Ft. Lauderdale - Panama City: CM and NK, 1x daily flight in average, adding both services.
New York JFK - Panama City: CM PTY-JFK 3x daily.

JetBlue won't be alone at PTY, resulting in a complicated scenario for their profitable operations.
Furthemore, B6 doesn't have a good coverage within Central America, like AA, UA and DL.

SJOtoLIR wrote:

Before the Covid-19 era:
Ft. Lauderdale - Panama City: CM and NK, 1x daily flight in average, adding both services.
New York JFK - Panama City: CM PTY-JFK 3x daily.

JetBlue won't be alone at PTY, resulting in a complicated scenario for their profitable operations.
Furthemore, B6 doesn't have a good coverage within Central America, like AA, UA and DL.

As more wealthy Panamanians are re-locating or spending more time around RIH Río Hato (Scarlett Martínez Airport. former U.S. military base airfield), smart move by B6 would be to fly to RIH instead of PTY.
Also, there're times when people from the western "suburbs" of Panama City (Capira, La Chorrera) would drive faster to RIH than to PTY.
B6 FLL-RIH twice weekly (Fridays and Mondays?) might be enough. as for B6 JFK-RIH, only if the beach hotels start operating as normal as possible, once per-week, high season.
Just my

CM seems to be taking delivery of new 737Max,
MSN   LN Type   Registration   Delivery date  
44212 7772 737-9MAX HP-9911CMP 19/02/2021
44168 7702 737-9MAX HP-9910CMP 02/02/2021
44172 7543 737-9MAX HP-9909CMP 23/01/2021
44170 7448 737-9MAX HP-9907CMP 13/01/2021

thought not sure why they send them from Seatle to SJO instead of PTY.

https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/hp-9912cmp

any last minute instalations ??

They have 12 MAXs now. However, I only see 3 of them flying around on most days. I wonder how many more they will get this year and what their plans are.

copa330200 wrote:

CM seems to be taking delivery of new 737Max,
MSN   LN Type   Registration   Delivery date  
44212 7772 737-9MAX HP-9911CMP 19/02/2021
44168 7702 737-9MAX HP-9910CMP 02/02/2021
44172 7543 737-9MAX HP-9909CMP 23/01/2021
44170 7448 737-9MAX HP-9907CMP 13/01/2021

thought not sure why they send them from Seatle to SJO instead of PTY.

https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/hp-9912cmp

any last minute instalations ??

If not mistaken all the seats are installed at COPESA.

avi8 wrote:

They have 12 MAXs now. However, I only see 3 of them flying around on most days. I wonder how many more they will get this year and what their plans are.

According to their fleet plan, they plan to end the year with 15 Maxs in total. https://copa.gcs-web.com/static-files/a ... c4ea80e81c

Wow. The fleet shrunk by 20 frames. Very sad to see.