Colombia will resume merger process of Avianca and Viva airlines

Colombia's aviation regulator annulled a business merger process between Avianca and Viva airlines due to procedural irregularities, meaning the process will restart without the companies' having to reapply, the aviation governing body announced on Thursday. The aviation regulator had rejected the airlines' merger request in November on the grounds that it posed risks to competition in the sector and the welfare of consumers. Avianca and Viva filed an appeal in November and proposed alternatives, such as yielding some routes and granting better landing and take-off schedules to competitors. The aviation regulator admitted the existence of a "substantial irregularity within the administrative process" because for the appeal it applied a procedure set forth in a law, ignoring a special rule regarding the protection of competition. The director of the aviation regulator, Sergio Paris, said at a news conference on Thursday that the process will be restarted quickly for which a special team was formed and that the consumer will be protected as established in the current regulations. The two companies signed an agreement in April 2022 seeking to become part of the same group and unify their economic assets, maintaining their respective brands and strategies to strengthen the airlines after the COVID-19 pandemic threw the global airline industry into crisis.<br/>