Six weeks after Colombia’s government lifted a ban on air travel, flights are resuming slowly and not without controversy.
According to civil aviation authority Aerocivil, it has been able to reestablish some flights to European cities like London, Madrid and Istanbul since the Health Ministry lifted a ban on international air travel in mid-September.
Flights to Newark, Orlando and Fort Lauderdale in the US before the end of the month, according to Aerocivil.
The reopening of flights is not without controversy though.
The Health Ministry announced on Wednesday that it will lift the requisite obliging all incoming travelers to undergo a coronavirus test within three days of boarding.
Bogota Mayor Claudia Lopez aid the decision to skip testing created an “unnecessary risk” for the capital, which has registered approximately a third of all Colombia’s coronavirus infections.
“You don’t reactive air transport and tourism by indiscriminately bringing in symptomatic and infected passengers,” Lopez said on Twitter.