Easter Island reopens to tourism after the pandemic

The island of Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island, has received its first tourists after more than two years of total closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The first tourist flights to the island, located in the middle of the Pacific - five hours by plane from the Chilean mainland - arrived at full capacity with all 300 seats sold out. At the moment, airport officials said there are only flights on Thursdays and Saturdays, with a third to be added in September. Rapa Nui, as it was originally called, was closed to tourism for more than 27 months, and because it is isolated, there were no cases of local COVID-19. However, some isolated cases of people from elsewhere were contained.