July 8, 2020 – Yesterday, Aerolíneas Argentinas and the Argentine Ministry of Defense decided on the operation of two flights to the Island of Cyprus to carry the troops that will relieve the members of the Armed Forces who are currently working for the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP).
Initially, two flights will be operated, one in August and one in September, which will carry almost 250 members of the Armed Forces to the port city of Larnaca, while a similarly-sized group will return to Argentina after a 6-month mission in the Argentine Blue Helmet camps deployed in Cyprus.
“In these trying times, we are still able to operate our flights, just as we have been operating the sanitary flights to China and the special flights from abroad. We should be proud to be taking on such an active role in this situation as the Argentine flag carrier,” explained Pablo Ceriani, President of Aerolíneas Argentinas.
“Troop reliefs were usually carried out with commercial airlines that carried military personnel, but in the context of this pandemic, we had to find a solution. Now we have the chance to operate two flights to carry the new contingent and bring back home the Argentine personnel who concluded their mission there,” stated Agustín Rossi, Minister of Defense.
Since March, Aerolíneas Argentinas has operated 118 special flights to 16 countries, which have allowed for almost 30,000 Argentine citizens to return home. The company has also operated 34 flights to Shanghai, China, with the purpose of bringing medical supplies to fight the global pandemic.