The tour operator Bojórquez has sent a harsh letter to the Cuban airport authorities denouncing the loss of suitcases, the removal of belongings from passengers’ luggage and the exchange of goods for waste on the flights of the Mexican airline Magnicharters. The company classifies these acts as a crime and even threatens to take them to criminal law.
“Our airline ensures the protection and care of the goods and belongings of its passengers,” warns the letter, dated October 19, to which it had access 14ymedio. “Every day we see an increase in these actions,” she emphasizes, referring to baggage handling and theft. The text, signed by Armando Bojórquez Patron, president of the Bojórquez Tour Operator, details the irregularities that have been detected.
“Missing suitcases, broken suitcases, open, with broken security locks, say (padlocks, bridles), removal of belongings inside the suitcases, exchange of goods for others, with the aim of maintaining the same weight of the suitcases, leaving broken objects, empty perfume bottles, dirty and old clothes inside,” explains Bojórquez.
The letter, sent to the Empresa Cubana de Aeropuertos y Servicios Aeroportuarios, SA (ECASA) and to the authorities of Terminal 3 of the José Martí International Airport, explains that the airline “has opted for Cuba as a charter destination through travel agency”. This season, in addition to carrying out flights with passengers between Cancún, Mexico City, Mérida and Havana, to which is added the Cancún-Holguín connection, the company transports Cuban migrants who are deported from Mexico.
“Every day we see an increase in these actions,” he emphasizes, referring to the manipulation and theft of luggage.
“In other words, it actively maintains its flights to Cuba not only from the tourist point of view but also from the government point of view,” Bojórquez underlines. The company makes these journeys with a fleet made up of Boeing 777 aircraft, each with a capacity for 136 passengers. Although Magnicharters “ensures the protection and care of the goods and belongings” of its clients, “it becomes uncontrollable” to maintain its standards in connections with the Island.
The airline, which flies mainly to beach destinations in Mexico, had 12 planes in 2016, but with the arrival of the pandemic it was forced to leave some ships on the ground. On the route between Cancun and Havana, the passenger is entitled to a 25-kilogram suitcase as accompanied luggage and a 10-kg carry-on bag, which makes the company a good option for Cuban mules.
With a price of 278 dollars, this journey between the Cuban capital and the Mexican resort is attractive for the importation of merchandise for resale in the island’s informal market. “These are flights loaded with purchases, electrical appliances, clothing, footwear and other products that people bring to later earn a living by selling them at a higher price,” acknowledges an employee of the General Customs of the Republic who works in terminal 3 of the Havana airport.
The text sent by Bojórquez calls on the Cuban side to better protect the suitcases: “Our intention is that we can all activate the protection and security mechanisms that we must comply with in the handling of passenger luggage, that we do not lose the prestige that we have all earned with our daily work”.
Last April, Magnicharters canceled its flights from Havana to Managua, Nicaragua, a journey with which it pocketed large profits since each ticket was sold for more than 3,000 dollars. These suspensions came shortly after the migration talks held by the Cuban and Mexican governments, in which they promised to maintain an “orderly and safe” migration.
“When they arrived at the hotel they realized that their belongings had been opened and partially stolen”
Finally, the letter calls for “minimizing these unpleasant events” and the company offers its “collaboration to avoid such incidents, and repeat offenders on Magnicharters flights” to Cuba. The document has already caused a stir in the baggage department of the José Martí airport, where managers look for blame and evade responsibility.
This same week, several tour operators invited by the Cuban tourist authorities arrived on Magnicharters flights. “When they arrived at the hotel they realized that their belongings had been opened and partially stolen,” an airport source tells this newspaper who blames the incidents on the Mexican side. “It seems that they happen there at the departure airport, but we haven’t been able to find out yet.”
However, other employees consider that what happened responds to “a way of stealing belongings that characterizes Cuban airports, where the staff who work have a very low salary and must be in contact every day with luggage with belongings that are worth more than everything. a month’s salary,” he tells 14ymedio a worker linked to the main air terminal in Cuba.
Complaints of luggage theft in Cuban airports are frequent and among the testimonies of the victims there are repeated breakage of the locks on the suitcases, the theft of belongings such as clothing, footwear, perfumes and others, in addition to the replacement of part of the luggage. contained by old fabrics, newspapers and even stones.
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