As The Costa Rica Star reported yesterday, the General Directorate of Civil Aviation suspended the operation permit of company Nature Air, indefinitely, and sustained their decision stating that the airline had not resumed its operations even though their previous suspension was lifted in February.

Representatives of Nature Air held a press conference this Thursday at the Tobias Bolaños Airport in Pavas during which they stated that Civil Aviation was responsible for the financial difficulties the company has faced.

According to Nature Air, the reason that the company has not been able to resume operations normally has to do with loses of close to $1.6 million that the company has been carrying as a result of the suspension ordered by Civil Aviation in January of this year. The situation also forced the company to fire a considerable number of employees going from 105 workers to only 12.

Alex Kajhavi, CEO of Nature Air, commented that the measures taken by the aviation authority were unilateral, and the company was not given sufficient information or time to respond, “there was never an official notification given to Nature Air prior to the suspension or adequate time to resolve the situation caused by the accident (that took place December 31 and in which 12 people died)”.

Kajhavi, stated that despite the financial crisis, Nature Air is not bankrupt and expects to get the necessary cash flow to reactivate its operation. He also admitted that the airline still maintains debts with some passengers who had purchased tickets prior to the airline’s suspension, however, he guaranteed that they are doing all efforts possible to get the banks to refinance these amounts.

The representative of Nature Air also made reference to the consequences that the domestic flights market faces with the suspension of Nature Air, since now SANSA is the only company operating which has caused a raise in the ticket prices and “the disappearance of low cost tickets for nationals”.

Nature Air claims that they have requested meetings with the director of Civil Aviation and the Minister of Tourism since January which have not been granted; however, Ennio Cubillo, Director of Civil Aviation denied this version and affirmed that they held meetings in several occasions and had granted the company time and terms to solve some of the issues they were having since 2017.

According to Cubillo, the future of Nature Air now depends on the administrative process; during this process the company will have the space to present their case.

Nature Air is currently seeking new investors and working with financial institutions to refinance their debts.