Avianca could be the first major airline flying to the Dominican Republic to file for bankruptcy
The airline was the Dominican Republic’s main air connection to Colombia. The airline dates back to 1919 and as of the end of 2019, was the third-largest Latin American airline based on market share, after Chile’s Latam Airlines and Brazil’s Gol Linhas Aéreas. It is a member of Star Alliance. Now its planes are grounded and staff is on unpaid leave.
The president of the company, Anko van der Werff, told reporters of El Tiempo, the Bogotá-based newspaper: “For airlines all around the world, Covid-19 has been too big of a challenge. Without revenues, no company has a good future. The outlook: closed borders, no one knows when the skies will reopen, and a very low recovery of demand is expected. That is why we see our best solution is in filing under Chapter 11.”
Avianca chose to file for bankruptcy in the United States because its stock is listed on Wall Street.
The New York Times reported on 11 May 2020 that the average number of passengers on a commercial flight within the United States right now is just 23. It estimates that every day, the airline industry is losing almost US$400 million.
Airlines flying to the Dominican Republic have just been handling repatriation flights that are only open to citizens and residents of the country to where they fly to.
12 May 2020