Avianca Brasil loses slots in Sao Paulo's domestic airport

Brazil's civil aviation regulator will take back grounded airline Avianca Brasil's slots in Sao Paulo's coveted domestic airport as part of a plan to redistribute them later, according to a decision published in the govt's official gazette Monday. Avianca Brasil filed for bankruptcy in December and saw its operations progressively diminish until they were suspended in late May. The airline was Brazil's No. 4 carrier and had planned to auction its airport slots July 10, in hopes of raising at least US$140m. But without the Sao Paulo slots, which represent the most lucrative portion of all the airline's slots, it is unclear whether the auction will still take place. Brazil's top 3 airlines, Gol, LATAM, and Azul had all expressed interest in the slots, and spent millions in effort to secure them. <br/>