Wednesday at the Toussaint Louverture International Airport, several hundred Haitians were unable to board Chile due to a decision by the National Civil Aviation Authority (OFNAC), who refused permission to a plane of the Chilean airline Law.

A decision that angered passengers forcing the police to intervene to prevent the situation from degenerating further. Travelers who are unhappy with having waited in vain for a while have turned back, waiting for explanations from the company Law

This decision follows a long-standing dispute between ONAC and its Chilean counterpart, which categorically refused last May to increase the number of flights of Dynamic Air Ways, a Haitian airline with destination Chile.

At the same time, officials from OFNAC, Public Works and the Chilean Ambassador accredited in Port-au-Prince exchanged views on this thorny issue, but no solution was envisaged. However, on the Haitian side, a moratorium was granted to Law to allow the Chilean authorities to change their minds.

It should be remembered that in the early phases of negotiations between the civil aviation regulators of the two countries, Dynamic Air ways was entitled to 19 flights a year to Chile, while the Chilean airline is entitled to 43 flights per month, which constitutes a breach of the principle of reciprocity linked to international cooperation.

This situation was recently debated in the Council of Ministers, where it was decided to temporarily suspend Law's operations in Haiti, pending a better negotiation.

"Haiti and Chile are very close to a diplomatic incident, if nothing is done quickly to resolve this dispute," said the National Airport Authority (AAN) communications office.

HL/ SL/ HaitiLibre