The City of Chicago claims that Interjet (AIJ, Toluca) owes taxes and fees to Chicago O'Hare Airport and has filed a lawsuit against it for USD2.56 million to reclaim the money, the Mexican newspaper Reforma reported.

The case, which was filed at the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on June 9, alleges that the carrier breached the terms of a 15-year contract signed in May 2018.

USD360,000 in airport taxes between July 2019 and January 2020 have not been paid, the city said, neither has USD1.7 million in fees for services and storage space, nor USD334,000 in administrative charges.

The city said it notified Interjet of its debts on February 18 but had received no response. The two parties have been summoned to participate in a virtual hearing on August 10.

Should the city and Interjet fail to settle, the airline risks having its US-based assets and bank accounts seized, according to Reforma.

Interjet cancelled all of its international routes in late March and in April its passenger numbers were down 97%. It is currently operating 14 domestic routes, which is up from a low of five but significantly fewer than the 87 it operated in January, which included 45 international routes.

The coronavirus crisis has followed years of financial problems at Interjet. Among others, it owes Mexico’s tax service (Servicio de Administración Tributaria - SAT) nearly MXN700 million (USD32 million), for which the SAT seized property from the Aleman family, who run the carrier, on April 24, according to media reports.

In early June this year, the annual financial report of the Mexican government’s airports and auxiliary services company (Aeropuertos y Servicios Auxiliares - ASA) claimed that the carrier owed it more than MXN841 million pesos (USD38.9 million) for jet fuel.