The conflict of air traffic controllers requiring budgeting of some employees it jeopardizes the trips of thousands of Uruguayans scheduled for Tourism Week and also threatens connectivity.
The airlines, like the travel agencies, are waiting for an outcome that allows them to start the engines of the time of the year in which Uruguayans travel abroad the most.
“From the Uruguayan Association of Travel Agencies (Audavi) we really want to express our deep concern for our passengers”says the president of the business union, Carlos Pera.
In the executive’s view, taking this type of action has become a “systematic behavior” of these officials in days prior to peaks of activity such as Tourism Week.
For his part, Andres Gil, CEO of TocToc Viajes assures that the agency is expectant and trusts that a solution will be found. “This not only generates problems for the agencies but also —which is obvious and much more important— in the vacation travel experience for which many Uruguayans have paid, many of them with a lot of effort (because it has been a special Holy Week , with higher prices than usual); It would be a shame if those dreams of rest and enjoyment with the family are overshadowed by a measure like this”, the businessman underlines.
At the same time, as these are very high occupancy dates, any disruption of this type becomes very difficult to solve. “For all this we are closely following the issue, with concern, but confident that such an unfriendly measure will not be taken for travelers on their vacations,” Gil remarks.
For his part, the manager of Aeronautics Chamber of Commerce from Uruguay, José Luis Hernández emphasizes that these measures do no good to “a connectivity that is painfully being restored” and that it has not yet reached pre-pandemic levels nor the airlines that are affected by the measures.
“Airline planning departments have little patience,” says Hernández, adding that “they don’t like to have problems.”
The reference in aeronautical trade emphasizes that planes, especially in inter-American flights, are used with great intensity and the fact that they cannot reach a place or that they get stuck has a great impact on the systems and that generates “bad consequences on Uruguay’s reputation as a destination point”.
Hernández agrees with Pera that it is a problem that is repeated very frequently and this makes it even more worrisome. “Every time there is a peak of activity, there can be this type of obstacle in the operation, which, I reiterate, is not good for anyone.”
According to Hernández, although it is common for this to happen in other countries as well, the impact is not as great as in the Uruguayan case since it deals with larger markets. “Let’s not forget that Uruguay is a marginal market, nobody can leave the German market aside, small markets that do not have the weight of the big ones can be left aside, if we still put obstacles and complications…” , emphasizes Hernández.
The president of the Chamber of Commerce of the Aeronautics of Uruguay does not want to generate alarm, but he does maintain that the accumulation of this type of measures “sometimes generates results that may seem annoying, unfair and serious.”
The impact on scheduled trips
So far, the airlines have not requested a change in schedules for flights that will take off at the times that air traffic controllers established to stop their activities, as reported to El Observador from the Carrasco Airport.
When looking carefully at the stoppage schedule proposed by air traffic controllers, it can be seen that the affected takeoffs are at the times when there are precisely the greatest number of flights, which results in more affected passengers.
The impact can range from delays or delays in arriving at a final destination to missing a connection causing further impediments and delays of up to a day to reach your destination. “There our passengers can be seriously affected, because although Easter is a period of high occupancy from the tourist point of view in Uruguay, it is also for various European markets, which means that many flights are completely full,” he highlights. He pears and points out that rescheduling generates inconveniences, delays and losses.
In the same sense, the manager of Hiperviajes, Fernando Riva, opined, “it will have an impact, not so important as to cancel flights, but it will affect departures and connections, which will generate in the client perhaps losing up to a day of stay , arrive a day later. On most days it will be later,” said the executive.
“That is why from Audavi we express our strong concern for this type of actions because those who are held hostage are the passengers who have nothing to do with any of the parties,” concludes the president of Audavi.
