Avianca abandons the integration with Viva, what is the reason?

Avianca announced this Saturday that he had dropped out of joining Viva on behalf of “Terms” which he put in the process Civil Aeronautics of Colombia (Aerocivil)something the airline believes may “even affect” its stability.

The company said in a statement that it has reiterated “for months its belief that integration is the best solution to respond to Viva’s financial crisis and to protect consumers, employees and air connectivity.”

However, the information added, the airline has thoroughly studied the latest integration resolution and found that “Aerocivil’s terms make Viva’s recovery impossible and may even affect Aviance’s stability.”

Viva suspended operations on February 27 due to serious financial problems that left thousands of passengers stranded.

Conditions Aerocivil
Last Monday, Aerocivil published a resolution in which it updated the conditions for the integration of Aviance and Viva.

They suggest that the rights of Viva users be “respected and respected”, meaning that the money for airline tickets be refunded or that “those who have reservations and tickets in execution” be allowed to travel.

It is also pointed out that Avianca had to “maintain the scheme of ‘low costs’ Viva Air as an option that materializes alternatives for users of the air transport service, especially on those routes where only the specified airline operated”.

Likewise, Aerocivil said that the company should restore “outbound and inbound slots, adjust them in a way that the infrastructure of El Dorado International Airport is used more efficiently, guaranteeing competitive conditions and enabling the sustainability of Viva Air.”

In this sense, Avianca assured this Saturday that what it raised the air authority shows “little regulatory flexibility to provide certainty about the conditions to reactivate Viva’s business.”

The airline also believes that there is a “lack of adaptation to the conditions of the current reality of the Viva and the time elapsed between the start of the process” of the integration, in August last year, and the “firm decision date”.

“The terms require Avianca to assume commitments, routes and service-level commitments and prices that do not match Viva’s remaining capacity after the two-month suspension of operations,” the information added.

The president of Aviance, Adrián Neuhauser, He assured that “the terms of this resolution make it impossible to save Viva, making it not only unfeasible as an airline, but if it happens, it would put “at risk” the stability of the airline it operates and the “connectivity of Colombia”.

The company also pointed out that this “unfortunate outcome” was partly the fault of other airlines “who played a harmful role, improving their competitive position in the market by delaying the authorities’ decisions”.