Aruba Airlines and Conviasa, the only air transport service companies still connecting Cuba with Nicaragua, have informed travel agencies that there will be no more flights between both destinations. This decision comes in response to the visa restrictions announced by the United States Government against those promoting illegal migration to the U.S.
LA PRENSA contacted the travel agency Tito Tours USA, based in Miami, United States, which indicated that flights between Cuba and Nicaragua operated by Aruba Airlines «are not departing,» citing «migration issues» as the reason.
When asked if they had available flights with another airline, the agency mentioned that «Conviasa is also not available for flights to Nicaragua.»
The decision by Aruba and Conviasa, although not publicly announced, was limited to communication with the agencies through which they sell tickets. This decision comes almost a week after Air Century from the Dominican Republic, one of the airlines conducting charter flights from Cuba to Nicaragua, was the first to announce the suspension of trips to Nicaraguan territory.
Airlines will operate flights that had already been sold.
Alexis Boentes, a Cuban-American reporter from Telemundo 51 in Miami, United States, also confirmed through his social media channels that Aruba Airlines was joining the suspension of flights between Cuba and Nicaragua.
«I contacted the airline’s office in Miami, and they confirmed the suspension of sales,» stated the journalist.
Additionally, he clarified that in the case of Aruba Airlines, it’s known that they will operate the flights that had already been sold, citing «groups dedicated to ticket sales» for that airline as the source.
According to flight arrivals disclosed by the Empresa Administradora de Aeropuertos Nacionales e Internacionales (EAAI) in Managua, this week, both Aruba and Conviasa have continued to bring passengers from Havana, Cuba. On November 30th, as per the EAAI website, two flights from the island were scheduled to arrive in Nicaragua.
Measures announced by the United States
The flight suspensions between Cuba and Nicaragua announced by the airlines come two weeks after the United States Department of State informed about a «new visa restriction policy aimed at individuals conducting charter flights to Nicaragua, primarily designed for irregular immigrants.» They warned that the measure would be applied to «owners, executives, or senior officials of companies offering charter flights to Nicaragua.»
According to the statement released, the policy by the U.S. government was in response to «a growing trend where charter flight companies have been offering flights (and charging extortionate prices) that place migrants on a dangerous overland journey northward towards the U.S. border.»
The suspension of flights from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, announced by the Haitian government on October 30th, was initially the primary reason for the decrease in the arrival of flights with migrants using Nicaragua as a springboard to enter U.S. territory. However, the promise from Haitian authorities was of a supposed prompt resumption after they implemented a «reorganization» plan.
Now, with the suspension of flights from Haiti and the new policy announced by the United States, the flights arriving from Cuba and Haiti at the Augusto C. Sandino International Airport in Managua, Nicaragua, have drastically reduced to just two from Havana, Cuba. This is in contrast to an average of between 10 and 30 flights that arrived daily from these destinations between August and October.
