U.S. Federal Aviation Administration Granted the Government’s Request to Redirect Commercial Air Traffic to the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan

(March 23, 2020- La Fortaleza, San Juan) – In a historic and unprecedented act, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA per its English acronym) approved Governor Wanda Vázquez Garced’s request to redirect air traffic on the island in order to control the entry of possible carriers of the coronavirus COVID-19 to Puerto Rico.

“We are grateful that the FAA has granted our request. This is historic as we are the first jurisdiction to receive tools from the federal air regulator to control air traffic during the global emergency of the Coronavirus COVID-19,” said Governor Vázquez Garced.

The Governor further stressed that «Our call is to ensure that every traveler who has planned a trip to Puerto Rico, is aware that no matter the activity or the reason that brings them to our island, once they enter Puerto Rico, they will be on a 24/7 lockdown for 14 days. Individuals will not be allowed to participate in any activity that requires them to leave their hotels or homes. Our recommendation is that you do not travel to Puerto Rico while the threat of this emergency is present.»

The FAA has approved the following concessions to the Government of Puerto Rico to redirect air traffic:

1. All commercial airlines, passenger flights, such as Jet Blue, American Airlines, Delta, United, etc. (FAA Part 121 operations) will land only at Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport (LMM); They will no longer be able to land at Ponce and Aguadilla International Airports. This allows for a more centralized and efficient screening.

2. All chartered aircraft (“charters”) and general aviation (people who own small planes for recreational flights), coming from international destinations, may only land in Aguadilla, Isla Grande and the Luis Muñoz Marin Airport. Prior to this emergency, they could land at seven airports: Culebra, Vieques, Ceiba, Aguadilla, Ponce, Luis Muñoz Marin, and Isla Grande.

3. All chartered and general aviation aircraft (owners of light aircraft for recreational flights), coming from the continental United States, will only be able to land in Aguadilla, Isla Grande, and the Luis Muñoz Marin Airport.

4.Cargo flights are not restricted and are excluded from any request.

For his part, the Executive Director of the Ports Authority, Joel Pizá emphasized that “This is the first time that this type of extraordinary request has been granted to a territory or a state.

We thank the FAA Administrator, Stephen Marshall Dickson, and the U.S. Department of Transportation for responding to our request quickly. Given our island’s situation, this action is a fundamental part of our efforts to control the entry of possible cases of Coronavirus COVID-19 in Puerto Rico.

These measures come into effect immediately.”