The merger of Avianca with Viva Air is authorized after the suspension of flights

( Spanish) — Aeronáutica Civil de Colombia announced in a statement on Wednesday that the final offer presented for the integration of the airlines Avianca and Viva Air was approved. The suspension of operations of this last company on February 27 for national and international destinations due to its internal economic crisis left hundreds of passengers stranded in airports in the country.

Among the conditions to complete the merger are the reimbursement of plane tickets to those who suffered cancellations, the preservation of Viva Air’s “low cost” scheme, and the reestablishment of flight frequencies on the Bogotá-Buenos Aires route, which was seen especially affected.

The merger of the companies comes after a crisis of trips last February 28 when Viva Air suddenly canceled flights across the country, and even at international airports, prompting protests from users.

The economic crisis that Viva was going through had led its managers to ground five of its aircraft for a week before canceling its operations.

Viva Air had accepted the Business Recovery Process a few months ago under Decree 560, which allows companies in financial crisis to declare bankruptcy.

At that time, the Civil Aeronautics, the entity in charge of regulating air transport in Colombia, said in a statement that it would ensure that the rights of passengers are respected, given the avalanche of claims from airline users who ask that the itineraries that were scheduled.

The president of Colombia Gustavo Petro then proposed that the state airline Satena be in charge of transferring passengers who have not been able to travel after the suspension of Viva Air operations. Avianca transferred thousands of stranded passengers who had planned to fly with Viva Aire in recent weeks.