Avianca rescues 100,000 passengers stranded by collapse of Viva Air & Ultra Air

Avianca has helped relocate over 100,000 passengers that had tickets with Viva Air and Ultra Air, the two Colombian carriers that ceased operations in February and March. In a statement, Avianca updated on its rescue scheme, which has been going on for over a month.<br/>The cease of operations of Viva Air and Ultra Air left thousands of passengers stranded across Colombia. This crisis got out of hand, and even the Colombian air forces had to pitch in. Last week, the country’s president put the entire fleet of the air force at disposition to help travelers return home. Avianca set a passenger rescue plan since the end of February after Viva Air announced its temporary cease of operations. The airline began helping passengers with a valid flying ticket with Viva Air so they could get to their final destination. Nonetheless, after Ultra Air also announced its bankruptcy in late March, Avianca extended and expanded its rescue plan to accommodate Ultra Air’s stranded travelers. On Tuesday, Avianca said that it had relocated over 101,600 passengers and operated 64 additional flights since February 28. It had given priority to the regional connectivity across Colombia. Of the 101,600 relocated passengers, over 91,000 have been on domestic routes and 10,600 on international routes. About 92,900 of the passengers had tickets with Viva Air, and 8,700 with Ultra.<br/>