Aren't Nicaragua's COVID protocols the issue? It requires airlines to send an advance passenger manifest with each person's PCR test result to the civil aviation authority and to the Ministry of Health? It also requires PCR tests for airline crew, even if they're never getting off the plane and are turning right around and going back where they came from. I'm all for vigilance during the pandemic, but those are cumbersome requirements for an airline, and the Big US three have said, no, we don't need to come back under these conditions. So, without competition on US-Nicaragua routes, AV is free to raise its fares. The tourism industry is pleading with the Ortega administration to relax requirements. Danny and Rosey won't.

What's laughable about this is that Nicaragua has lagged WAY behind the rest of Central America in combatting COVID among its own population. It will barely acknowledge that COVID is even an issue. It's fascinating to me that on those CDC maps that rank countries by COVID risk, Nicaragua is always gray. Nobody knows. The issue here is not whether you agree with the CDC ranking approach or not. It's that Nicaragua doesn't release this information.