Avianca, which offered almost 40 million seats on routes across Latin America last year, has filed for bankruptcy protection after travel bans across the region forced the airline to ground its fleet.
Avianca Holdings, one of Latin America‘s largest airlines, has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in New York after failing to secure a government bailout before the deadline for a $66 million bond repayment due this month.
Avianca has operated its first cargo flight between Colombia and China using a Boeing 787-8 passenger aircraft reconfigured to carry general cargo and medical supplies.
Bogota-based Avianca announced it will temporarily cease all passenger flying, as a cascading series of travel restrictions across Latin America forces carriers to halt operations or scale back to skeletal levels.
Colombia’s Avianca will suspend all international flying and slash domestic capacity by 84% from Mar. 23, in a move to deal with the continuing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Avianca executives are confident that the carrier’s financial performance will trend toward profitability this year, following a challenging 2019 that saw the Bogota-based airline realize a net loss of close to $900 million.
Bogotá-based Avianca Holdings plans to strengthen its hub at El Dorado International Airport as its most important air-connection center in the region; however, the infrastructure must be improved, and decisions must be made quickly.
This week: Manchester is to become WestJet’s third destination in the UK; Turkish low-cost carrier Pegasus Airlines is starting service to Finland; and Avianca has ended flights between Bogota and Havana.
Avianca Holdings, pressing on with its sweeping “Avianca 2021” revamp, has re-worked its Airbus A320neo order book, canceling 20 aircraft, deferring remaining deliveries until the second half of the decade, and signing on to lease additional models from BOC Aviation.
United is moving deeper into Latin America after reaching a deal with Copa Airlines and Avianca for a joint venture on routes between the US and 19 countries in Central and South America.
This week: Air India is to resume flights from Mumbai to Frankfurt after an absence of eight years; Avianca adds Chicago service; and Spirit to increase Colombia flights.
Our top five stories on Routes Weekly: Avianca resurrects plans for regional airline; the Middle East's aviation potential; Airbus' Brexit warning; Cebu readies for terminal opening and more.
Colombian flag carrier Avianca is resurrecting plans to launch a regional airline, five years after scrapping a similar proposal amid trade union issues.
United Airlines has raised its stake in Brazilian low-cost carrier Azul, citing connecting traffic as a reason behind the move. The deal comes as an impending US-Brazil open skies agreement looks set to increase services, routes and competition between the two countries.
