Colombia: Avianca Airlines Declares Bankruptcy Due to COVID-19

Colombian airline Avianca announced Sunday that they are declaring bankruptcy after an 80% income drop due to the health crisis.

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Avianca Holdings airline representatives published a communication announcing voluntary bankruptcy declaration to protect future operations. “Today our wings are closed so that tomorrow we can all continue to fly “tweeted Anko van der Werff, Avianca president.

The company presented a request to file voluntarily for Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. The Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York received the application. 

"This process was necessary because of the unpredictable impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has caused a 90% decrease in global passenger traffic and is expected to reduce industry revenues worldwide by $314 billion, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA)," the company said in a statement.

Avianca’s representatives also explained they maintain dialogue and negotiations with the Colombian government and other clients about their financial support. As official communication expresses, Avianca would resume operations as virus containment permits.

The air transportation consortium restructured its financial debt in 2019. Earlier this year the airline implemented the “Avianca 2021” plan until March.  After international commercial flights ceased due to the virus, Avianca faced a considerable financial loss. 

Avianca was the largest airline operating in Colombia. It was founded in 1919 under the name SCADTA, and it is the second oldest airline in the world after KLM. Also, it is the oldest in the world with uninterrupted operations. Before the bankruptcy declaration, Avianca registered about 30 million passengers.