Tonight, multiple reports reaching our newsroom are that over 30 passengers from a COPA flight from Panama are stuck in limbo at the Philip Goldson International Airport. They're not really in Belize, but also not out of the country as yet.
We understand, however, that a COPA flight arrived this evening with passengers from Panama, and while 38 of them were being processed by Immigration Authorities, their approval to land in Belize was denied. We are told this is because the accommodations they said they would stay at in Belize apparently don't exist.
We are told that this led to some sort of stand-off because these travelers strongly disagreed with that refusal.
We are told that the Belizean authorities wanted the pilot to fly them back to Panama, but the pilot strongly declined. So, they had to be taken off the airplane, while the immigration authorities figure out what is the best course of action to address this matter. Reports are that this major disruption affected passengers in Belize who were supposed to fly to Panama on the return leg of that COPA flight.
We reached out to Foreign Affairs Minister Eamon Courtenay for comment, and tonight, he told us, quote, "We have a serious situation at the Airport with respect to people who should never have been put on that COPA flight to Belize. They have been refused leave to land, and steps will be taken to return them from where they came." End quote.
As viewers will remember, back in October of this year, 11 passengers were similarly refused leave to land in Belize. They also arrived at the PGIA on a COPA flight.
