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Flight reservations have not been affected so far by worries about
Zika, a spokeswoman for the airline said. But hotels and cruise
operators who serve the region have said they are seeing growing
concerns from travelers.
An outbreak of the mosquito-borne virus, linked to brain damage in
thousands of babies in Brazil, is likely to spread to all countries
in the Americas except for Canada and Chile, the World Health
Organization (WHO) said this week.
American Airlines Group Inc more than doubled its previous list of
destinations for which it was offering refunds to pregnant
travelers, adding Puerto Rico, Martinique and four countries to an
initial list of five Central American airports.
Chile-based LATAM Airlines, Latin America's largest carrier, said it
would offer refunds or the opportunity to change destination to
medically certified pregnant women and their traveling companions
booked on international flights to Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and
other affected Latin American and Caribbean countries.
"For pregnant passengers that have already initiated their trips to
the aforementioned destinations, they can return early, subject to
seat availability, at no extra charge," the airline said in a
statement.
U.S. airline United Airlines also said this week it was allowing
customers with reserved tickets for travel to impacted regions to
postpone their trips or obtain refunds with no penalty.
In a similar move, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd and rival
Carnival Corp have said they would allow expectant mothers covered
by the CDC advisories to reschedule cruises to a later date or
switch to an itinerary outside the affected countries.
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LATAM Airlines, a group formed by Chile's LAN and Brazil's TAM, had
not yet seen an impact on reservations due to concerns about the
outbreak, a spokeswoman for the company said on Wednesday.
Avianca, the region's second biggest airline, and smaller Brazilian
carrier Gol made similar comments on Tuesday.
However, the outbreak presents another potential headache for LATAM,
which is already struggling with currency fluctuations, labor
disputes and a fast declining Brazilian economy. The company is
expected to post a net annual loss for the third year in a row when
it reports 2015 results in March, according to Thomson Reuters
estimates.
(Reporting by Anthony Esposito, Rosalba O'Brien and Felipe Iturrieta
in Santiago and Jeffrey Dastin in New York; Editing by Frances Kerry
and Sandra Maler)
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