Brazilian CAA strips Avianca Brasil of key airport slots ch-aviation PRO exclusive

Judicial administrator Alvarez & Masal has recommended to a court that Oceanair Linhas Aéreas S.A., which used to operate as Avianca Brasil (O6, São Paulo Congonhas), should be declared bankrupt, the Brazilian news agency Folhapress reported on November 14.

Responsible for monitoring the company's judicial recovery process, the administrator said that Oceanair was not viable and could not envisage conditions for the fulfilment of its debt repayment plan.

The move follows the Brazilian carrier's protracted period of inactivity given the withdrawal of its Air Operator Certificate (AOC) in May this year.

“The directions taken by the company seem to make it impossible to maintain the judicial recovery in the face of a complete emptying of business activity,” the global professional services firm declared in a petition filed with the First Bankruptcy Court of Sao Paulo.

Alvarez & Masal added that the company no longer owned any aircraft, nor did it have any employees on its premises.

“If a company is no longer viable, the planned remedy for such a situation is bankruptcy,”...

Brazil has organised meetings with foreign airlines to try to persuade them to launch domestic flights there, Ronei Glanzmann, secretary for civil aviation at the country’s Ministry of Infrastructure, told Reuters on the sidelines of the Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association (ALTA) Airline Leaders Forum in Brasilia on October 27.

“These are conversations to introduce Brazil to them, they do not mean that the airlines are saying that they will come here,” he said. “We are working first with [getting them to operate] international routes, but we are already working so that those operations will become domestic operations in the Brazilian market.”

According to Glanzmann, meetings with Volaris and jetBlue Airways were scheduled to take place during the conference on October 28 and he also named SKY Airline (Chile) as a potential interlocutor. However, SKY decided to cancel its participation at the event due to the continuing civil unrest in Chile.

The Brazilian business magazine Exame also named Ryanair, which it said the Bolsonaro administration would meet with at the Global...

The original timelime for a proposed Latin American joint business deal between Star Alliance members United Airlines, Avianca, and Copa Airlines has been delayed due to the possible inclusion of a fourth partner, Azul Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras, in which United has a stake, Reuters has confirmed.

Copa CEO Pedro Heilbron said the group expects to file paperwork with the US Department of Transportation (DOT), seeking antitrust immunity, in early 2020. In a separate interview, Avianca CEO Anko van der Werff said it would file in late 2019 or early 2020. Both were speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of the Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association (ALTA) Airline Leaders’ Forum in Brasilia on October 28.

The three airlines said in November 2018 that they would request US antitrust approval “in the near term” with the aim of easing traffic between South America and the United States, but in mid-October United Airlines revealed that it wanted to include Azul in the tie-up.

“Quite frankly, really completely open and honest, we haven’t had...

Azul Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras (AD, Sao Paulo Viracopos) is in discussions to join the proposed Latin American joint business agreement between Star Alliance member airlines United Airlines (UA, Chicago O'Hare), Avianca (AV, Bogotá), and Copa Airlines (CM, Panamá City Tocumen Int'l), the carrier said in a statement relayed by Reuters.

No further details were available, although United from its side also mentioned adding Azul to the partnership.

"We have been working really hard with a great set of partners, Copa, Avianca and Azul, and we are going to put together a fantastic joint business and we are going to be competitive in the region as a group in a way that I think has actually just been enhanced over the last few weeks," President Scott Kirby said during the recent earnings call.

While Azul is not affiliated with any alliance, it is linked to United through equity - the American carrier owns an 8.2% stake in the Brazilian firm.

The Latin American strategic affiliations are currently in...