In the midst of a confiscatory madness, an all-out war against civil society organizations and a desire for absolute control of all political, social, religious and even business activities, dictators Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo are reportedly trying to control the sale of airline tickets in the country and thus subject airlines and travel agencies to their whims, said an expert in the air transport industry.
On August 19, the Ministry of the Interior (MINT), subordinate to the Nicaraguan regime, decreed, through ministerial agreement 38-2024, the cancellation of 1,500 Non-Profit Organizations (NPOs), arguing that they were “in breach of the laws that regulate them” and among them was the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
The Ortegas and Murillos ordered the disappearance in the country of the association in charge of facilitating the connection of air transport worldwide with travelers departing from Nicaragua.
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The cancellation of IATA’s legal status brought with it the freezing of its bank accounts, which meant an immediate halt to the purchase and sale of airline tickets for all travel agencies belonging to this global association.
What is IATA?
The International Air Transport Association was created in 1919 with the aim of grouping and coordinating the largest number of airlines and travel agencies from around the world and articulate their operations, so that their flights, schedules, destinations and connections can be coordinated in a single network to facilitate the purchase of tickets and flight connections anywhere in the world.
This means that if a person in Nicaragua wants to take off from Managua and travel to a very distant country in Asia, Africa or Europe, and there are no direct flights, there is no need to worry; travel agencies associated with IATA will take care of making the connections, synchronizing their schedules and purchasing the tickets.
The banning of the air transport agency has caused uncertainty and makes travelling to Nicaragua from far away countries more complicated, as well as travelling from the Central American country to destinations with which there are no direct flights. Tourism will suffer serious consequences.
According to data on the Association’s official website, by 2023, it grouped together 317 airlines in 120 countries and regions of the world. Nicaragua is no longer one of them.
The news of the annihilation of IATA in Nicaragua caused such surprise that some members of the air transport industry believed it was a mistake, a mistake, but no, it was a premeditated action.
As expected, the consequences were not long in coming. Avianca and Copa Airlines were the first two airlines to announce that, as of the announcement, they were withdrawing their ticket offers through travel agencies.
Anyone wishing to travel with these companies must purchase their tickets directly online and pay by card.
Dictatorship behind the control of airline ticket sales?
For the former Liberal councillor and Nicaraguan opposition member, now in exile, Alfredo Gutiérrez, “the measure adopted by the Sandinista dictatorship is not the result of an error or simple ignorance. I believe that it was duly analysed and calculated.”
Gutiérrez is an expert in the operation of travel agencies and international air transport. He was the owner of a travel agency associated with IATA in Nicaragua, “Viajes Globo”, which operated in Bolonia, in the Nicaraguan Polyclinic Building.
The former councilman was also president of the Nicaraguan Association of Travel and Tourism Agencies (ANAVYT) between 1997 and 2000, so he knows very well the “in and outs” of travel agencies in the country and his experience gives him reason to think that the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship is maneuvering as part of its madness to control everything.
“What I think could be being articulated is that the regime wants to pass the Payment System (BSP) into its hands and have the State be in charge of charging the agencies and then paying the airlines,” suggests Gutiérrez. However, he believes that IATA would not accept such control by the dictatorship.
According to Gutiérrez, the monthly sale of airline tickets in Nicaragua would be moving approximately between 2.5 and 5 million dollars, which is a very high monthly movement of money.
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The alternative now available to agencies is to pay airlines directly at their offices, “returning to the mechanism that existed before 1990,” explained the former owner of the travel agency.
However, what will not be resolved in a short time is the problem with complex air connections, that is, in far-off countries where the airlines that operate in Nicaragua do not fly. “There will undoubtedly be an increase in the problems of confirming spaces and guaranteeing reservations,” said the former councilman.
IATA’s cancellation coincides with the regime’s ban on all its institutions from purchasing airline tickets from travel agencies and ordered direct online purchases.
Among the Nicaraguan agencies that have the IATA certification are Aeromundo, Viajes Atlántida, Viajes América, Viajes Premier, Mango Travel, Viajes Munditur, El Viajero, Viajes Tisey, SchuVar Tours, Vice Travel and Sky Travel.
