(QCOSTARICA) Passengers on Copa and Avianca affected by the closure of operations of the Juan Santamaria (San Jose) airport during Monday and Tuesday have had the option of rescheduling or refund (in the case of Avianca).
Both airlines resumed flights Tuesday afternoon within Central America. However, many flights originating in the U.S and Canada for San Jose, for example, were cancelled ahead of their departure times.
In cases such as the eruption of the volcano, being a force majeure situation, airlines do not have the responsibility to assume the costs of lost connections and other expenses incurred such as additional stay in hotels, meals, etc by customers unable to travel; however, this depends on the policy of each company.
For travellers on the Colombian airline Avianca, the airline provided passengers a change of travel dates without penalty; was well as a refund to passengers who were unable to or unwilling to travel on other dates. The airline said travellers could change dates up to one month in the future without penalty.
In the case of the Panamian airline Copa, the airline announced additional flights, three for Tuesday and five for Wednesdays to get their customers to their destination.
Copa announced that travellers who purchased their tickets prior to September 19 could make changes at no cost or penalty; changes must be made by September 21, with travel not later than September 30.
While these two airlines have resumed flights, not all airlines, in particular the U.S. airlines, have not resumed their flights to and from San Jose, some advising their customers of more delays or cancellations for Wednesday.
