At 0:00 this Sunday, November 20, Lima’s Jorge Chávez International Airport reopened to air operations, more than 30 hours after the accident involving a LATAM Airbus A320neo and an SSEI (Rescue and Fire Extinguishing Service) fire truck.
See also: LATAM Airbus A320neo crash in Peru: this we know
As one of the main South American hubs, the more than 500 flights cancelled between Friday afternoon and all Saturday impacted air activity throughout the region.
The first take-off was at 00:37 on Sunday, LATAM Airlines flight LA2422 to Porto Alegre, Brazil, followed by others, also from LATAM, to Santa Cruz, La Paz and Santiago.
There are still some 50 flights cancelled for this Sunday between arrivals and departures, most of them from foreign airlines such as JetBlue, Volaris, BoA, Delta or United Airlines, which saw their rotations affected by the closure in force on Saturday.
See also: A Fire Drill, main factor of the LATAM crash in Peru Airport
LATAM, the main operator of Lima airport with around 60% of the flight and seat offer, urged its passengers to check the status of their flight on the company’s website, also offering those who have had their plans affected by cancelled flights the possibility of changing their ticket up to one year from the date of purchase, while those with flights between November 18 and 23 may request a change at no cost up to 15 days from the original flight date or a full refund of the money.
“LATAM reiterates that it deeply regrets the death of aeronautical firefighters Ángel Torres and Nicolás Santa Gadea and offers its most sincere condolences to their families. At the same time, the group remains attentive to the medical condition of the third firefighter, Manuel Villanueva, who is hospitalized in a health center,” the company said in a statement issued on Sunday morning, in which they also expressed their gratitude to all airport personnel who collaborated during the emergency.
Lima Airport Partners, concessionaire of Jorge Chavez Airport, also recommended passengers to check with the airlines on the status of their respective flights, indicating that they can find the contact information for each one in this link.
