Avianca will restart international flying from Colombia Sept. 28 and gradually increase destinations while enforcing strict protocols for passengers to guard against the spread of the novel coronavirus, the airline said Sept. 25.
South American operator Avianca Holdings has hit a stumbling block in its Chapter 11 restructuring after a Colombian court issued an injunction against a $370 million loan the country’s government has offered to the company.
Chief executives from some of the world’s leading airlines will be in attendance at Routes Reconnected to discuss the long-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on their business models and how they intend to rebuild passenger demand.
Argentina was scheduled to reopen its borders and permit airlines to fly in and out of the country on Sept. 1 after almost six months of mandatory closure. It won’t happen.
The Colombian government has agreed to loan Avianca Holdings up to $370 million as part of a restructuring designed to get the airline back on solid financial footing.
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.
