Some readers may remember that back in February we travelled to Costa Rica. When flying within Costa Rica we usually fly Sansa Regional but this time had booked our internal flights on Nature Air in order to experience a new aircraft type.

Between the time we booked and the time of our trip, Nature Air had 2 crashes, one of which killed 12 people, including an entire family from New York. The small airline was subsequently grounded by the Costa Rican authorities. Afterwards we read news reports that in the preceding months Nature Air had a number of aircraft repossessed due to non payment of leases.

In spite of our obvious safety concerns, the airline’s grounding, and its likely inability to operate its timetable with fewer airplanes, Nature Air refused to give us a refund until they actually cancelled our flights. Any reasonable person would understand that people traveling to vacation destinations in remote parts of Costa Rica can’t wait until 24 hours before their departures to find out whether their flights will actually leave, and then if they don’t simply book other options at the last minute. There was no way I was accepting this or under any circumstances flying a small airline that just had two crashes. Nature Air was intransigent. To ensure we would get to our destination on time, and not waste the money we’d already paid for accommodation, we had to book other flights, costing us a further USD 500. It was a good thing we did. Although Nature Air’s operating permit was reinstated before our trip, as far as we know they never flew again. Still, they only cancelled each our flights one day before the scheduled departures.

They sent us refund forms to fill in and return, which I promptly did. When I did not receive the refund after a period of time I began following up with the airline, and continued to do so throughout the year, demanding the return of my $500 for the flights they never provided. Eventually they simply stopped replying to my communications. I never received a dime from them.

According to news sources (see below), Nature Air had its operating permit indefinitely suspended in May 2018 due to “abandonment of routes”, which we think is a good thing for future visitors.

On wikipedia and through various new reports, you can find the names of the characters who founded and owned Nature Air. These people took money for flights they never provided, and then simply walked away.

There is a good rule in aviation which I generally follow, but had disregarded on this trip. Generally, I find it better to book flights on larger established airlines based in countries with higher safety standards and good passenger rights regimes. On top of that, we suggest you ensure the airline you’re thinking of entrusting with your life does not have serious recent safety incidents. The latter you can investigate on aviation-safety.net. It is particularly helpful for investigating small regional airlines in countries with uncertain standards.

Sansa Regional is our preferred airline within Costa Rica. It is a subsidiary of the larger airline TACA, which itself part of the larger airline company, Avianca. It has not had a fatal incident since 2001. Unless this changes, we will not be deviating from them in the future, and we will certainly never fly on any airline operated by the same people who ran Nature Air.

Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nature_Air
https://costa-rica-guide.com/travel/transportation/air/nature-air-permanently-grounded/
https://news.co.cr/civil-aviation-suspends-operations-of-nature-air-in-costa-rica/72724/