Atlantic Airlines Suspends Flights for Maintenance

National air carrier Atlantic Airlines has suspended all its domestic flights while it performs maintenance on its fleet, according to marketing manager Eliseth López.

López said Atlantic’s daily flights from Managua to the Caribbean will be suspended until the end of July.

A group of Atlantic workers recently told the local press that the company was seeking to close down after the National Civil Aeronautic Institute demanded that the firm perform preventive maintenance on its fleet.

Atlantic denies the allegations and said the maintenance was the company’s own initiative.

During the month-long maintenance period the workers aren’t receiving pay. Atlantic became one of two airlines with flights to the Caribbean from Managua after the government cancelled Aerosegovia’s license to fly in 2003, citing a slew of irregularities, including outdated equipment and failure to pay airport taxes.

Atlantic, which also operates in Honduras, now competes with Grupo Taca partner La Costeña, both of which offer daily flights to a handful of destinations to Nicaragua’s Caribbean coast and various parts of the interior.