:quality(85)//cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/infobae/MX6SKAWIHJD73B72PLSIXFPM4Q.jpeg "Gustavo Petro ordered Satena to take care of passengers affected by the Viva Air situation")
On the night of Monday February 27, the airline live air announced the suspension of its operations, in a statement the company said that: “the lack of prompt response from Civil Aeronautics and the national government forces us to temporarily and immediately suspend all our operations”.
Viva Air “disappeared”: it suspended its operations and left all its planes on the ground
Passengers stranded at different airports in the country demand a quick solution from the low-cost in order to get to their destination.
This situation has generated chaos at national airports that has had repercussions across the continent. On Tuesday, February 28, President Gustavo Petro ordered that Satin care of the passengers concerned.
“You all woke up today to a report on television, the subject of Viva, a company that goes bankrupt, leaves people at the airport with tickets sold out, then we say right away, well, here , it should work immediately, at least for users . Satena, what is the airline operated by the Colombian Air Force today,” Petro told the media.
The President’s Order consists of the company’s 12 aircraft Satin They should start operating this afternoon to mobilize thousands of users “thrown” in the country’s airports.
Viva Air will be investigated for non-compliance with passengers, the Superintendence of Transport has announced
The entity, in collaboration with civil aeronautics and other airlines, is developing a unified command post (PMU) to establish solutions for the travelers concerned.
In the same vein, the President of the Republic mentioned the Civil aeronauticswhich through a statement, informed that passengers with tickets issued or confirmed reservations for February 27 and 28, and for March 1, 2023 with the company live airwill be transported by “the airlines Latam, Avianca and Satena which offer alternative transport on shared routes, depending on the availability of seats, at no additional cost”, Aerocivil specified.
Immediately afterwards, the national entity explained that this alternative also applies to international flights with the aforementioned dates to Lima and Mexico City; Avianca and Latam will be able to cover these flights on shared routes at no additional cost.
Viva Air crisis: these are the reasons that led to the airline’s bankruptcy
A soaring dollar, fuel prices and inflation have exacerbated a crisis the airline has been dragging on since the covid-19 pandemic
For its part, the Colombian Association of Travel and Tourism Agencies (Anato) called on transport and national government authorities on the importance of knowing the financial power of the airlines that operate in Colombia:
“So that it is support for the consumer, in the event of non-provision of services. In addition to the need to have a Fogafin-type guarantee fund, to protect users through deposit insurance “, explained Paula Cortés Calle, Executive President of Anato.
To salvage its situation, the airline aimed to integrate with Avianca as a last salvation. But Civil aeronautics and the Ministry of transportation They rejected this allegation because it could lead to a possible violation of free competition.
In the same way, Aeronáutica assured that Viva could have sought other solutions, such as loans or the search for investments to guarantee the continuity of its operation.
The high price of the dollar, high fuel prices and inflation are some of the reasons that led the company to its economic collapse. In fact, these aspects have affected the entire aeronautical industry in the same way, but for live airwhich came to carry 8.1 million passengers in Colombia and its connections, the effect was worse because it already had problems.
As reported in Law, audit reports made to Viva Air indicate that the campaign made apparent maneuvers to modify invoices in order to stay within the legal limits of Colombian funding. The outlet also pointed out that payments were made to companies that did not exist when the money was transferred.