Overview:
Jacques Etienne, the supervisor of InterCaribbean Airways in Cap-Haïtien, clarified to The Haitian Occasions that he didn’t require vacationers to pay a further payment earlier than boarding, opposite to rumors circulating on social media. Nevertheless, he talked about that some passengers might need been annoyed as a result of he requested them to pay for the mandatory return flight for his or her journey to Jamaica.
CAP-HAÏTIEN — Final week, social media customers accused InterCaribbean Airways of charging passengers an additional $700 earlier than permitting them to board flights at Cap-Haïtien Worldwide Airport.
Jacques Etienne, the airline’s Cap-Haïtien supervisor, denied the declare, explaining that passengers touring to Jamaica are legally required to have roundtrip tickets. Some, he mentioned, could have been misled by fraudulent journey businesses that failed to supply return flights and overcharged clients. These with out roundtrip tickets have been requested to buy one—sometimes costing round $700—earlier than boarding, resulting in frustration and fueling on-line rumors of an extortion scheme involving the airline at Hugo Chavez Worldwide Airport.
“When you’ve got a visa, you want a roundtrip ticket,” Etienne mentioned. “They solely had a one-way ticket, so I requested them to pay for the return flight. That’s an immigration regulation. You’ve got a visa; you don’t have residency.”
A round-trip ticket to Jamaica from Haiti prices about $1,500, so the return flight would value in regards to the $700 InterCaribbean requested the passengers to pay for.
In keeping with the Consulate Common of Jamaica, individuals touring to Jamaica with visas are required to have a return ticket.
Etienne mentioned the businesses serving to passengers purchase tickets may be the wrongdoer of misinformation. Generally, businesses cancel return tickets earlier than passengers journey, Etienne instructed The Haitian Occasions, leaving room for businesses to commit fraud and pocket the return ticket cash. One other widespread fraudulent scheme Etienne sees is businesses reserving flights for individuals despite the fact that they don’t have any proof of vital visas. For instance, Etienne mentioned 17 individuals tried to journey with fabricated visas to Brazil in December. Some passengers trying to journey to Jamaica final week additionally had faux paperwork. The U.S. Division of State has lengthy warned U.S. vacationers of the “many ‘doc distributors’ in Haiti that try and promote fraudulent paperwork,” a problem prevalent across the globe.
With greater than a 3rd of air journey transactions taking place on-line and throughout borders, on-line transactions akin to with journey businesses are ripe for fraud with airways shedding about 1% % of annual on-line gross sales to fraud, an approximate 1 billion greenback annual loss In keeping with a study by the Worldwide Air Transport Affiliation a world aviation commerce affiliation. Generally, businesses take cash from individuals and e book faux flights for them to solely discover out after going to the airport. Businesses have been behind a number of scandals on the Cap-Haïtien airport, however this current subject is a uncommon one which made its strategy to social media and native information.
“The businesses are those creating the issues,” Etienne mentioned as he stood behind the InterCaribbean desk on the airport.
It’s unknown which company could have been behind the scandal on the Cap-Haïtien airport final week.
The flight to Jamaica final week had 68 passengers, however Etienne didn’t present the quantity of people that couldn’t journey. He didn’t give the precise date of the flight both. The flight had a layover to Providenciales.
InterCaribbean, a Turks and Caicos-based airline was based in 1991 to function on-demand constitution flights. Because the Turks and Caicos authorities pursued large-scale improvement plans, the airline rebranded to broaden its service to key worldwide locations. Immediately, it operates scheduled flights to Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, the Bahamas, and different places.
Etienne mentioned that whereas some annoyed passengers cursed at him and accused him of theft, they didn’t resort to violence.
Some journey brokers additionally blamed sure businesses for the state of affairs on the Cap-Haïtien airport, elevating considerations about their credibility.
“The error got here from the businesses,” mentioned Hyppolite Beauvais, a journey agent. “Some individuals solely make one individual journey and suppose they’re an company however don’t know something in regards to the journey enterprise.”
Beauvais, who works with Travelco International, Top60, and JKT, prompt that inexperienced or fraudulent businesses have been on the root of the confusion.
“The error got here from the businesses. Some individuals solely make one individual journey and suppose they’re an company however don’t know something in regards to the journey enterprise.”
Hyppolite Beauvais, journey agent
Whereas some Haitians believed the rumors of a gang-influenced scheme with InterCaribbean, vacationers with prior expertise on InterCaribbean flights disputed the claims. Makenson Cesar, who has used the airline twice for journeys to Cuba, instructed The Haitian Occasions that his expertise had been seamless.
“That is nonsense,” mentioned Cesar, who’s in his early 30s. “The businesses are those giving issues… I by no means do tickets by businesses, all the time with Inter[Caribbean Airways], and all the things is all the time appropriate. I by no means give one other gourde after I end paying for the ticket and present my visa.”
Business observers say the Haitian authorities must implement stronger oversight of journey businesses to forestall comparable scandals. Journey fraud has been a persistent subject in Haiti, with businesses allegedly misrepresenting companies or charging passengers for flights that don’t exist.