The surprising suspension of operations of the low-cost airline Viva Air unleashed on Tuesday (02.28.2023) a crisis at the airports of the main cities of Colombia where thousands of people have left adrift, a situation that spread to neighboring Peru.
Viva Air, created in 2009, is facing a serious financial crisis and made the decision to suspend its national and international operations after the authorities rejected its request for integration with Avianca to overcome its financial crisis.
The company argues that the decision of Civil Aeronautics (Aerocivil) to issue a “communication acknowledging the interests of various third parties on Viva’s urgent request to allow its integration with a stronger and larger group of airlines” will give as a result “further delays in making a decision.”
According to Viva, the delay of the aeronautical authorities in making a decision has led it to present numerous pieces of evidence to the Colombian government to demonstrate that “it is in a critical financial situation” and the only way it could continue flying is the integration that it claims.
The company has 35 internal routes and flights to Argentina, Peru, Brazil, Mexico and the Dominican Republic.
The suspension of operations took passengers, many of them foreigners, who were waiting for their flights with Viva Air by surprise, which led to protests and verbal attacks at the El Dorado airports in Bogotá; José María Córdova, from Medellín; Ernesto Cortissoz, from Barranquilla, and Rafael Núñez, from Cartagena, mainly.
