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Nicaragua received 19 deportation flights from the United States during the first half of 2025 — a 46% increase compared to the 13 flights that arrived in the same period in 2024. A total of 2,126 Nicaraguans were deported on these 19 flights, according to U.S. government sources.
Ten of the 19 flights carrying deported Nicaraguans departed from Alexandria International Airport in Louisiana, made a stop at the Guantánamo Naval Base in Cuba, and then continued to Augusto C. Sandino International Airport in Managua, according to monitoring data from researcher Thomas Cartwright, provided to CONFIDENCIAL.
The months with the highest number of deportees were May and June, with five flights each. June saw the largest number of forced returns to Nicaragua, with a total of 580 migrants. That month also marked the first time a group of deportees arrived on a military flight, aboard a United States Air Force plane.
All the flights that arrived in Managua with deportees from the United States in June 2025 first stopped in Guantánamo. According to Cartwright’s data, the deportation flights landed every Thursday in June, with the military plane arriving on a Sunday. These were the flight dates that month:
- On June 06, 2025, flight N282GX operated by Global X arrived in Managua. It was an airbus A320 that took off from Alexandria, Louisiana, stopped in Guantanamo and continued to Managua.
- On June 12, 2025, Global X flight N966AD arrived, operating an airbus A321. This flight followed the same route as the previous one.
- On June 19, 2025, the same Global X plane arrived in Managua with more deportees arriving from Louisiana and Guantanamo.
- On June 26, 2025, Global X flight N289GX also landed and followed the same route as the previous three flights, all of which arrived on Thursday.
- On June 29, 2025, the U.S. Air Force C-17 military aircraft arrived with a small group of Nicaraguan deportees.
June, the month with the highest number of Nicaraguan deportees
For years, Nicaragua has quietly received two deportation flights per month, usually arriving on the first and third Thursdays. Occasionally, there were as many as three flights in a single month. However, since Donald Trump took office as president of the United States in January 2025, the number of deportation flights has increased.
Between January and March 2025, two deportation flights arrived in Nicaragua each month, but in April there were three. According to U.S. government sources, a total of 1,017 Nicaraguan migrants were deported during these four months, an average of 117 per flight.
Since May 2025, the number of monthly flights has doubled, and the usual Thursday pattern has changed, with arrivals now taking place on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Sundays — days that were not previously typical.
In May, 529 Nicaraguans were deported on five flights, and in June another 580 nationals arrived on five flights as well, on four charter flights and one military flight.
Military flight would have cost nearly US$160,000
Historically, flights with deportees arriving in Nicaragua have arrived on commercial aircraft contracted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Among these is Global X Airlines.
Such flights are cheaper than the C-17 military aircraft that arrived in Nicaragua and cost about $28,500 per hour, a U.S. official told Reuters news agency.
This means the flight that arrived on Sunday, June 29, cost approximately $159,030, estimating a total of 5.58 hours for the round trip between the U.S. and Managua.
In contrast, a scheduled charter flight costs about $8,577 per hour, according to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). These flights take roughly 7.6 hours to go from Louisiana to Guantánamo and then to Managua, bringing the estimated cost to $65,185.
Sources close to the airport say the military flight that arrived in Nicaragua also transported Venezuelan deportees, who were later sent to Maiquetía Simón Bolívar International Airport aboard a Conviasa aircraft.
