mspflier

Trying to book early Dec flights SCL-IPC but no ITA or LATAM show any flights for sale in Dec. I thought this route resumed? Anyone have any intel? Thx

Viajero Perpetuo

Even though three airports in continental Chile are open to tourists, Rapa Nuians make their own decisions on these matters. As of this date, no word when they will accept non Rapa Nui residents despite the announcements of the Chile government.

chilglish

This is absolutely correct. Last time I checked, the percentage of the target population vaccinated on the mainland was over 85% and now schoolchildren are gradually receiving their first shots. As Viajero Perpetuo rightly said, the Rapa Nui make their own decisions and especially don't like being told what to do by the government, so some are actively defying health recommendations. This is why their current rate of vaccination is extremely low in comparison to mainland Chile, around 55%, despite implorations by the mayor for more people to get immunized so they can reopen the island, whose economy relies almost 100% on tourism.

cmtlatitudes

Obviously no way to know for sure what will happen.

But what is general consensus/thoughts if Easter Island will be reopen to travelers by June 2022? Also, is it thought flights will resume from PPT as well as Santiago when they do resume?

Like others, I had a combined Business Class Award trip to PPT / IPC in August 2020. AA miles on partners ATN and LATAM respectively. Loosing the trip was a double blow for me, as LATAM now no longer partners with American.

My French Polynesia portion of the cancelled trip is currently rescheduled for May 2022. If the IPC flights seem favorable for resuming before June, I'd look at possibility of putting a placeholder flight in place from SCL back to the US, and purchasing the Easter Island flights (PPT-IPC-SCL) when they become available. Assuming those flights aren't initially priced completely out of my ballpark when they resume again.

OhDoctor

I'm in a similar position and have no idea what to expect. We are planning on having to skip the IPC portion.

Semphyra

There is currently 63.6% of the target population currently vaccinated in Isla de Pascua (versus 89.2% at the national level). Certainly the local people doesn't want to get vaccinated as the majority believe they are better off without tourism and they are now trying to be self-sustainable with a more barter-focused local economy. Also they don't find necessary the vaccine as there are virtually no cases in the island.




However, the major said he is aware that the current situtation is not sustainable in the long term and he wants to reopen in December: (Google Translate, sorry)


"In recent weeks, the mayor of Rapa Nui has met with local authorities to refine details about the safe return to the island. “We are already working on a protocol. We have 11 safe return flights and no case of contagion because we apply it. We are in complicity so that this virus does not enter the island. That is why we have called it a safe return, because we have dedicated ourselves to writing and testing protocols, "said Edmunds.

Now they are working on a definitive document, in connection with the airline that arrives in said territory "so that our protocol is required before getting on the plane," said the municipal authority. "We are going to be pending for at least a couple of years to follow up on the person: where they are staying, who will be their guide, where they will eat, so that if a contagion arises we already know who they are, it is done traceability and is communicated to the health authority ”, he explained."

https://www.uchile.cl/noticias/17692...es-de-covid-19


By the way, as of October 1th, foreigners are allowed to enter Chile as long you are vaccinated

EuropeanPete

Chile (and presumably) IPC are going to be open for tourists from 1st Nov, but I’m still not seeing any IPC flights loaded. Anyone have any thoughts on when we might see them return?

Semphyra

Chile is already open for tourists since October 1th, as long as you are fully vaccinated and submitted proof to the Chilean Ministry of Health in advance. 5 days of quarantine are still required

What's going to happen in November 1st is anyone will be allowed entry. If you are vaccinated you can skip the quarantine as soon as you get a negative PCR done in Chile, otherwise you have 7 days of quarantine.

Isla de Pascua is a special case and it's still closed for national and foreign tourists. I posted more info in https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/lata...l#post33637739

behuman

On Expertflyer IPC flights from SCL resume on 22 August 2022, before they are all zeroed out.

On the LATAM website they are bookable after 23 August 2022. This said, after horrific experiences with LATAM travel vouchers I would not use this airline unless absolutely necessary.

Viajero Perpetuo

At mevacuno.cl, one will either get approved for a 90 day green pass (pending on-arrival negative test result after Oct. 31), a temporary status or denial. Temporary only means there was not enough info for full pre-approval and the green pass is valid for 30 days vs. 90 days. This can be extended to 90 days if you take an antibody test in Chile. The seven day quarantine only applies to non-tourists entering under special circumstances (flight crew, diplomatic, etc.) or specific case consular approval.

cmtlatitudes

I just looked for these on LATAM, late August - early September 2022, both PPT-IPC and SCL-IPC. Was not able to find them. Thinking it may have been a mistake they were out there briefly, not removed to the end of the system or something. Since caught and removed.

I'm choosing to be optimistic and hopeful that's actually a good thing. That perhaps they'll be reinstated much sooner.

behuman

Resumen de tu viaje

1. Vuelo de ida•23 de ago. de 2022

   Vuelo de ida seleccionado.

   martes, 23 de agosto de 2022.
   Vuelo directo, con duración total de 5 horas 10 minutos. Hora de salida 08:50, Santiago de Chile, aeropuerto A. Merino Benitez Intl., hora de llegada 12:00 , Isla de Pascua, aeropuerto Mataveri Intl..
   8:50SCL
   Directo5 h 10 min
   12:00IPC

• Vuelo de vuelta•28 de ago. de 2022

  Vuelo de vuelta seleccionado.

  domingo, 28 de agosto de 2022
  Vuelo directo, con duración total de 4 horas 35 minutos. Hora de salida 14:30, Isla de Pascua, aeropuerto Mataveri Intl., hora de llegada 21:05 , Santiago de Chile, aeropuerto A. Merino Benitez Intl..
  14:30IPC
  Directo4 h 35 min
  21:05SCL

cmtlatitudes

Behuman, thank you. Not sure why I wasn't bringing up the SCL-IPC-SCL route yesterday, but am now.

Now the question is, if the dates are merely system placeholders, or they've been loaded based on some reasonable belief / context that these are the dates IPC is targeting to open. Much could change in 10 months, either way.

sdsearch

Actually, it's weirder than that. If you look closely, IPC from SCL for a month or two before 22 August 2022 are not zeroed completely, they have 7 for several coach fare classes.

But they are zeroed out completely in the opposite direction (back to SCL from IPC) until 22 August 2022! It's as if they're expecting that everyone flying in early July will have to do a 50-day self-quarantine after arriving at IPC???

Departing 07/04/22 - Monday

LA 841 0 SCL
07/04/22 8:50 AM IPC
07/04/22 12:00 PM 789
J0 C0 D0 I0 Z0 Y7 B7 H0 K7 M0 L7 V7 X7 S7 N7 Q0 O0 G0 A0 E0

Ie, I would conclude that this is pure guesswork on the part of LATAM, and they see no point in getting the guesswork completely right at this point.

chilglish

I am copying and pasting the Google translation of an article published in "La Tercera" yesterday. Although their stats wouldn't appear to be up-to-date, the rest of the article makes for very interesting reading.

"And when Easter Island? Community will carry out autonomous consultation for opening to tourism


Vaccination coverage barely reaches 56% in Rapa Nui and 80% must be reached to think about reopening the air and maritime borders. The authorities plan to receive visitors from January, but local spirits are divided and not everyone is inclined to exploit the area for tourism purposes. Therefore, on Sunday the residents will vote to know the majority position on the fate of the island territory.

17 months ago Easter Island closed its borders to tourism and more than a year has passed without cases of Covid-19. In all this time, only residents have been in and out on humanitarian flights, and a few groups have traveled on cargo planes from Latam.That could change from January . This has been proposed by the Rapa Nui provincial presidential delegate, René de la Puente; Mayor Pedro Edmunds and Valparaíso Health Minister, Georg Hübner, who agreed on the date as the "initial goal" to resume routine flights to reactivate local tourism.That, as long as 80% of the population is vaccinated. But to date, only 56% of the adults in Rapa Nui have received the two doses (just over four thousand people), very far from the national reality, where 89% of the target population already has their complete guideline.

And the panorama is as complex as it is uncertain. Not all Rapanui are prone to exploiting the area for tourist purposes. Therefore, on October 24, an autonomous consultation will be held, which seeks to collect the position of residents on the reopening.

The call is organized by the Ma'u Henua indigenous community -administrator of the Rapa Nui National Park-, at the request of the Honui -representative group of the families of the island-.

The only question on the ballot will be: “ Do you want to open the island in January? ", With two possible answers:" Yes "and" No ". The vote will be secret and will be deposited in a ballot box.

Among the " considerations to bear in mind when deciding " - it reads in the invitation - are that, in the case of opening, "little by little we will have the necessary income to maintain our community." On the other hand, if it is kept closed, it is stated that “we should consider having a way of life based on our ancestral customs. That is, to live off the land and its natural resources ”.



Sofía Faúndez, a member of Honui, says that “ the people in Rapa Nui are extremely polarized . They know that not opening means that you will not have resources (...). So there is duality. If I open it, I'm sure I'm going to catch it. The risk is because people are not getting vaccinated. The doubt is terrible: if I open we are going to get sick, but if I do not open, I run the risk of not continuing to emerge ”.
Accelerate vaccination
The vaccination campaign, of course, has been advancing faster - warn the authorities - since September 30, when the Seremi de Salud published the new protocol that regulates the transfer of residents from Easter Island to the mainland.

The resolution, which does not consider tourists, establishes in order to travel the Mobility Pass requirements , an affidavit, a negative PCR and fulfill a 5-day quarantine, among other considerations.



To reach the 80% goal by January and take advantage of summer tourism, 544 laggards would have to get the first dose before November 15 , to receive the second dose 28 days later.

To do this, from Monday to Friday, 26 people would have to be vaccinated per day , almost double what was registered in the last two weeks (between October 1 and 13), when, on average, 14 people received the first dose.

In this regard, Mayor Edmunds points out that the goal "is subject to the reaction of the community to vaccination and the amount of infections that the continent presents", and invites to be vaccinated "because (the programs) ProEmpleo, the IFE and social benefits. We have to get back to work. The economy depends on tourism ”.
Other "stumbling blocks"
Apart from the autonomous consultation and the low percentage of vaccinated, the presidential delegate adds that there are two other "stumbling blocks" hindering the return of tourism.

One is the takeover of the airport access sector by the Roe family, who claim the property where the terminal is located. The issue is in the hands of Bienes Nacionales, which is evaluating possible solutions to the conflict.

A third stumbling block is the hospital equipment . De la Puente points out that " there is no capacity today to withstand an outbreak of the virus on the island ."

The requirement for critical beds for the hospital, he adds, has been raised since the beginning of the pandemic, but that dialogue has been slow, which “is not the happiest, but we have been in talks. There is a plan to equip it ”, he says.

The mayor, in turn, maintains that “from the first day a field hospital was implemented (today disarmed). But it requires oxygen concentrators (...). We are discussing this with the minister (Enrique Paris), who has already given the purchase order ”.

Edmunds also details that the Ministry of Health already brought to the island last week " an ambulance, according to the times, that can treat a person with Covid."

For now, what remains is to await the results of Sunday.