The Argentine government has again expressed its offer of humanitarian charter flights by Aerolíneas Argentinas to provide transportation to residents of the Malvinas Islands who have been stranded since the outbreak of the pandemic, a situation that affects mostly people of Chilean origin.
«This humanitarian offering, made by the Foreign Ministry in the context of a recommendation of the Malvinas National Council, takes into account the British government’s statement that most of the stranded are Chilean citizens, so it was decided that the planes would depart from the Argentine mainland to Punta Arenas or another airport in that country,» the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The Malvinas Islands were disconnected from South America in March 2020 when the pandemic began, a situation that caused the suspension of the regular flights that LATAM operated from Punta Arenas and from Sao Paulo (with stopovers once a month in Rio Gallegos and Cordoba respectively).
The Argentine government pointed out that «although this suspension exceeds the control of the Argentine authorities», they seek to «contribute to help overcome the negative consequences produced by the pandemic by making it possible for people residing in the Malvinas Islands to travel to their cities of origin to address personal, health or family matters».
They also pointed out that this offer, which they defined as a «gesture of goodwill» came from the Argentine side, without responding to any request from the United Kingdom, and that everything related to regular flights is a matter to be dealt with between the Argentine and British administrations since «they do not depend on the decision of the illegitimate island government and the airline company». This conflicts with the position of London, which according to the Mercopress agency, in response to the Argentine offer, said that questions related to the air connectivity of the islands are the responsibility of the elected authorities of the islands.
The aerial connectivity of the islands has again gained momentum in recent weeks after it became known that the Argentine government had not responded to an islander request to carry out humanitarian charter flights to Chile, after which Argentina made progress in the proposal to carry them out with Aerolineas Argentinas, which is a particularly sensitive issue for the kelpers, who do not want planes of the state company in the islands because of the symbolic burden they have, even more months before the 40th anniversary of the war.
This Sunday we also reported that LATAM Airlines has already submitted to Brazil’s Agência Nacional de Aviação Civil its flight schedule between Sao Paulo and the Malvinas Islands, with the re-inaugural operation scheduled for February 9, 2022, although the route has already been suspended on several occasions.
The Malvinas Islands only maintain air connectivity through the South Atlantic Air Bridge that links Mount Pleasant with Brize Norton Air Base in Oxfordshire (120 km west of London) via Ascension Island in Airbus A330-200 aircraft of the Royal Air Force.
