Panama extends the ban on commercial flights until September 21.

Panama extended the ban on international flights until Sept. 21, “for public health reasons,” in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

The measure was adopted last Wednesday, August 19, but communicated two days later in the Official Gazette, which publishes Resolution No. 133, signed by Gustavo Perez and Gustado De Leon, director and deputy director of the Civil Aeronautical Authority (AAC), respectively.

All humanitarian flights and flights carrying equipment or supplies necessary to deal with the coronavirus pandemic are exempted, as well as those flights operating under the procedures established in Executive Decree No. 300 of 31 July 2020, which creates a “controlled operations centre for the interconnection of international commercial aviation at Tocumen International Airport”.

A week ago, on August 14, Tocumen airport – the country’s main terminal – began operating “controlled” flights, after five months of restrictions to control the advance of the coronavirus pandemic. Since then, the Panamanian airline Copa has opened eleven destinations in eight countries.

Ministry of Health (Minsa) regulations state that people wishing to travel to Panama must undergo a PCR test 48 hours before the time of the flight that will bring them to the country. In addition, passengers must remain in quarantine for 14 days.

Commercial and passenger flights have been banned since March 23, and were originally supposed to restart on May 23, but since then, the CAA has extended the measure successively. The last ban was until this Friday, but the authority extended it for a further 30 days from that date. This means that flights could be resumed after 21 September.

By La Prensa