Sunrise Airways: Haitian Passengers Trapped by the “Double Ticket”

Some situations, on their own, expose the deep flaws of a system. The case of Sunrise Airways is a striking example.

How can an airline that benefits from an $11 million government guarantee effectively impose double billing on passengers already hard hit by the economic crisis?

Admittedly, security imperatives cannot simply be brushed aside. Reports of gunfire targeting an aircraft are serious and deserve full attention. But the continued absence of investigation findings fuels legitimate doubts about the transparency of this decision.

Meanwhile, it is passengers who pay the heavy price.

The mechanism borders on cynicism: diverting international flights to Cap-Haïtien, then forcing passengers to buy a second ticket to reach Port-au-Prince.

Without regulation, the practice amounts to a genuine captive-market windfall.

Even more troubling is the silence of the state.

As guarantor of how public funds are used and protector of citizens, it seems reduced here to a mere spectator. This inertia raises questions about its ability to regulate a sector as strategic as air transport.

Beyond Sunrise Airways, the whole question of governance is at stake.

Can public resources continue to be committed without requiring, in return, strict service obligations, transparency and accountability?