BQB Líneas Aéreas (Punta del Este) owner and founder Juan Carlos Lopez Mena is in talks to sell the troubled carrier to Bolivian operator, Amaszonas (Z8, La Paz El Alto), Montevideo's El Observador newspaper has reported.
The Uruguayan government is said to have given its tacit approval to the negotiations though their current status is unknown at this time.
BQB has been in the doldrums since the middle of last year when a botched attempt at starting A319-100-operated flights to Buenos Aires Jorge Newbery and Córdoba International was thwarted by the Argentine civil aviation authority (Administración Nacional de Aviación Civil - ANAC). The move forced the carrier to lay off 55 employees that had been hired in anticipation of the launch.
Since then, the Uruguayan airline has undertaken a series of cost-cutting measures including returning the A319 to its lessor while cancelling planned leases on an additional two of the type. The airline's network has also been curtailed with its extensive Brazilian services now limited to Curitiba International. Flights to Santiago de Chile in Chile have also been dropped.
Currently its fleet stands at three ATR72-500s used to connect Montevideo and Punta del Este with Asuncion in Paraguay, and Buenos Aires Jorge Newbery and Buenos Aires Ministro Pistarini in Argentina.
Boardroom troubles have also rocked the airline with Juan Carlos Lopez Mena's son and CEO of the company, Juan Patricio López, resigning in October last year following a falling out with his father.
However, the airline does possess a Chilean Air Operators Certificate (AOC) awarded to it in January of last year. The AOC allows the carrier to operate both scheduled and charter passenger flights both domestically and internationally.
For its part, Amaszonas is buoyant with a fleet of seven CRJ200s used to serve 19 destinations scattered throughout Bolivia as well as in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay.
