Avianca fires back at Aerocivil for ‘unfeasible conditions’ on Viva acquisition

Colombian airline Avianca has sharply criticized a decision by the country’s civil aviation regulator on it’s planned acquisition of now-defunct Viva Air. The Bogota-based carrier late on 26 April says the decision “does not allow a realistic transaction for the integration and rescue of Viva”, and calls the conditions the regulator set “unfeasible”. Avianca has been trying to acquire Viva for almost a year, and a series of decisions by Colombia’s Directorate of Air Transport and Aero-Commercial Affairs, also known as Aerocivil, have stymied that process. Aerocivil’s final approval, published on 25 April, reiterates a preliminary decision from March, which sets conditions that Avianca says it cannot fulfil, ”making the rescue of the airline Viva gradually less viable,” the airline says. Viva ceased operations on 27 February, blaming Aerocivil’s regulatory delay. “Every day that passes in the process is one day less for Viva, for its workers and for the entire value chain associated with its existence. There is an increasing risk that lessors will withdraw the airline’s few remaining aircraft, making its operation unviable,” Avianca adds. ”Today, undoubtedly, the speed of the authorities’ actions and the reconsideration of the unfeasible conditions imposed so far is essential to find a solution that will safeguard the existence of what remains of the low-cost pioneer in Colombia.” <br/>