March 26, 2020, 12:00pm
Message from the U.S. Embassy Spokesperson:
We are in Day-5 of the 30-day national quarantine in El Salvador. The U.S. Embassy in El Salvador is continuing to work 24/7 to provide assistance to U.S. citizens in El Salvador. We are tireless in this endeavor, and we take nothing more seriously.
The Government of El Salvador has closed the international airport in San Salvador to all departing and arriving commercial flights. They have not announced a date in which the airport will reopen to commercial flights. If you choose to book a commercial flight now, I strongly recommend that your ticket is changeable or refundable.
If you desire to depart El Salvador, The US embassy has facilitated two airlines to get Humanitarian flight permissions — Eastern Airlines and Global Guardian. The Humanitarian Flights are operated by private airlines who set their own prices, which we have seen are higher than the pre-COVID market pricing. However, these flights offer a travel schedule to a set location. You may get one to two luggage allowances, and you can work with the airline on pet travel options. If you have an urgent need to return to the USA, we strongly urge you to consider this option.
- Eastern Airlines has flights departing San Salvador today through March 29 to Houston, TX. Visit https://goeasternair.com/ to book your ticket directly with the airline.
- Global Guardian, a private airline, is planning to have flights departing San Salvador for the USA on March 26 and 27. For more information and to purchase your flight, please email operationscenter@globalguardian.com
The Embassy is working on U.S. Government organized evacuation flights. We have already had one evacuation flight depart on March 24, and we are directly contacting U.S. citizens who have expressed an interest to depart El Salvador as more of these flights become available. While the exact cost of evacuation flights has not been determined, the price should be comparable to a full-fare economy commercial flight price before the #COVID19 outbreak. However, these flights may have baggage /pet restrictions and do not operate on a set schedule. The embassy is notifying those people who have expressed interest of flight opportunities as evacuation flights become available. If you have not already registered your interest in returning to the United States, please SCAN the QR code below to fill out the U.S. Citizen request for Evacuation or click HERE
