Bolivia will only accept dollars to buy air tickets

This change will be applied until further notice and has been communicated by the Telecommunications and Transport Regulation and Supervision Authority (ATT)

The dollar shortage is beginning to seriously affect the aeronautical sector in Bolivia. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced the temporary suspension of the service currency conversion in the countrya measure that will come into force as of next Thursday, June 20, 2024.

According to IATA, due to current market conditions and the shortage of dollars, the National Bank of Bolivia (BNB)sales manager for the Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP) and the Cargo Accounts Settlement Systems (CASS)will stop accepting payments in bolivianos (BOB) for the settlement of BSP sales in US dollars (USD).

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El Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP) es un mechanism designed by IATA to streamline and facilitate the process of marketing, registration and settlement of air tickets issued by accredited travel agencies. For his part, the Cargo Accounts Settlement Systems (CASS) It works similarly to BSP, but is specifically geared toward air cargo transportation.

Bolivian currency depreciation

With the suspension of the currency conversion service, travelers will have to pay for tickets in US dollars directly, instead of in Bolivians, as was previously done. This situation complicates the purchase process for passengers, who used to make the payment in bolivianos with a conversion to dollars made by a financial institution.

In addition, the shortage of dollars has affected not only the purchase of tickets, but also electronic operations and money transfers. Bolivian banks are experiencing difficulties in having enough foreign currency to carry out conversions in these transactions.