Sunrise Airways Denies Allegations Amid Mounting Complaints Over Haiti Flights

Sunrise Airways Denies Allegations, But Says Nothing About the Real Complaints

Port-au-Prince, August 3, 2026. A trilingual statement, carefully institutional in tone, but not a word on the substance of the problem. This Monday, Sunrise Airways chose to respond to weeks of public anger with a text released simultaneously on X in French, English and Haitian Creole, in which the airline “categorically denies” allegations it calls “baseless.”

An Image-Management Response to a Pile of Documented Facts

Management’s message aims to reassure. It cites a decade of presence in Haitian and Caribbean skies, a stated commitment to transparency and operational excellence, and a determination to “counter misinformation with verified facts.” But several local outlets immediately flagged the gap between the statement’s ambition and its actual content. For them, this reads as a public-relations exercise rather than a substantive response to grievances that have been piling up for months.

Because the facts are, in fact, documented. Repeated delays, cancellations announced at the last minute — sometimes after passengers had already arrived at the airport — lost or damaged luggage, an unreachable customer service line, refunds that drag on: the list of complaints keeps growing on social media and in the Haitian press.

 The Anie Alerte Case, a Catalyst for Public Ange

Nothing has crystallized traveler frustration quite like what happened to Haitian singer Anie Alerte. After a flight from Cap-Haïtien to Port-au-Prince, her suitcase went missing. Found a few days later, it was returned to her open, dirty and damaged — an incident she made public, triggering a wave of outraged reactions. Similar cases have since been reported at Les Cayes airport, reinforcing the impression of a structural problem rather than isolated incidents.

On top of that is a less expected but equally recurring complaint: the heat on board. Numerous passengers describe faulty or entirely absent air conditioning on certain aircraft, turning domestic or regional flights — already short but taxing in the tropical climate — into tests of endurance. That discomfort, combined with delays and lost luggage, is fueling widespread frustration.

 Online Ratings That Tell Their Own Story

Reviews posted on specialized platforms confirm the scale of the discontent. On Tripadvisor, the airline hovers around 2 out of 5.

Tripadvisor: 2.0/5 based on 87 reviews (breakdown: 6 Excellent, 10 Good, 5 Average, 3 Poor, 63 Terrible).

Trustpilot is equally harsh, with an average close to 2.3 out of 5. The most recent comments describe cancellations without straightforward refunds, no assistance in cases of missed connections, and endless check-in lines.

Added to these complaints is an older grievance, already raised in 2024: fares seen as excessive, in a country where air transport options remain limited and where Sunrise Airways holds an almost unavoidable position — a situation some do not hesitate to call an abuse of dominant market position.

A Security Context That Complicates Everything

It would be unfair, however, to ignore the context in which the airline operates. Haiti is going through a deep security crisis that directly affects civil aviation: temporary airport closures, rising insurance premiums, and, above all, very real incidents. In November 2025, Sunrise Airways had to suspend its domestic flights after one of its aircraft came under fire during approach — no casualties, but a strong symbolic shock. Since then, the airline has regularly cited safety requirements to adjust or suspend certain routes, particularly to Port-au-Prince.

These constraints, which are real, partly explain the disruptions. But they don’t answer what passengers are asking for: more communication during a crisis, decent support in the event of delays, and a minimum level of comfort on board — air conditioning included.

 A State-Backed Insurance Policy to Secure Haitian Skies

The security context described above actually led, back in 2025, to an unusual arrangement between Sunrise Airways and the Haitian state. On June 5, 2025, after several months of suspension, the airline announced the resumption of its regular domestic routes between Port-au-Prince, Cap-Haïtien, Les Cayes and Jérémie starting June 12. That resumption was made possible only through supplementary insurance coverage of up to $11 million, granted by the Ministry of Economy and Finance specifically to cover the risks tied to the extreme insecurity weighing on domestic flights.

A public financial safety net that, in the eyes of some observers, illustrates just how much domestic air service has become a matter of national interest — but one that also fuels criticism of favorable treatment granted to Sunrise Airways by the authorities.

The Arrival of Zed Airlines and the Question of Competition

Meanwhile, a new player has entered the Haitian market: Zed Airlines. But the airline quickly ran into its own difficulties. Several acts of sabotage targeting its aircraft have reportedly been reported, and one of its planes reportedly had to make an emergency landing recently, apparently caused by engine failure, according to a source at Haiti’s National Airport Authority (AAN).

This difficult climate for Haiti’s aviation sector as a whole contrasts with Sunrise Airways’ trajectory, which continues at the same time to expand its network: new routes, new destinations, and a stronger presence in the Dominican Republic, with connections to Punta Cana, Santiago and Santo Domingo from Cap-Haïtien. An expansion that raises questions for part of the public: how does an airline facing so much criticism over its service quality manage, at the same time, to multiply its routes and appear to benefit from the full range of the Haitian state’s largesse?

A source based in the Dominican Republic went further, suggesting that it is the Haitian foreign ministry itself that failed to negotiate hard enough to secure more slots or more favorable conditions on flights to Port-au-Prince.

Trust to Be Rebuilt

Founded by Philippe Bayard, Sunrise Airways established itself as Haiti’s leading airline after several competitors disappeared, becoming an essential link in regional connectivity. It is precisely this near-monopoly that makes public expectations so high — and the silence at the heart of the August 3 statement so poorly received.

By declining to specify exactly what it is denying, the airline risks letting doubt take hold more deeply than the rumors themselves. For many observers and travelers, the response they’re waiting for isn’t a blanket denial, but concrete commitments: more transparency about the causes of delays, more rigorous baggage handling, responsive customer service, and a tangible effort on cabin comfort.

In an industry where trust is earned flight after flight and lost just as quickly, Sunrise Airways has a lot riding on this. The airline that connects Haiti to the rest of the Caribbean will, sooner or later, have to turn its words into proof.

The Editorial Team