(CMR) A Cayman Airways flight, which was scheduled to depart Grand Cayman for La Ceiba on Tuesday morning, 21 May, has been canceled as poor visibility and poor air quality continue to affect Honduras.
Cayman Airways canceled its flights to and from La Ceiba on Friday, 17 May, due to low visibility at the Goloson International Airport. On Friday, Honduras’ civil aviation officials rendered the Goloson International Airport in La Ceiba inoperable until further notice due to reduced visibility caused by smoke.
Meantime, the US has warned citizens traveling to Honduras that increased levels of particulate air pollution, primarily due to agricultural fires in many parts of Honduras and a delayed start to the traditional rainy season, have reached unhealthy and even hazardous levels based on U.S. Environmental Protection (EPA) standards.
Travelers to Honduras are warned that they could experience travel delays. Airports can be affected by smoke, which can reduce visibility, and there have been short-term airport closures.
The second-largest city in Honduras, San Pedro Sula, has the worst air quality on the entire American continent, over 50 times worse than what the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends.
According to IQAir, a Swiss organization that monitors air quality and gathers data from more than 30,000 monitoring stations worldwide, the air quality has reached “dangerous” levels.