06:58 AM
The Civil Aeronautics confirmed that Next Tuesday, March 21, the final decision on the integration of Avianca and Viva Air will be announced.
The authority mentioned that it is processing the last phase of the integration analysis process projected between said airlines, after studying and evaluating “the request of the companies involved, the position of the interested third parties and the elements that unions, citizens and the Superintendence of Transport They have contributed up to this week.”
“From the moment in which, by decision of the Secretariat of the Aerocivil Authority, it was appropriate to adapt the integration process between Avianca and Viva to the Competition Law (1340 of 2009), the Air Transport Directorate has diligently advanced each one of the stages by this procedure. Nearly 70 files and documents have been filed since the restart of the process by the parties involved, interested third parties and the general public, which have been rigorously analyzed to make the decision.”, reported the watchdog.
This decision has Avianca’s controlling shareholders in suspense, since the nearly US$240 million they paid to acquire Viva’s economic rights could remain in limbo if Aerocivil refuses.
The authorities’ permission is crucial because Avianca’s shareholders could access Viva’s political rights, which are the ones that give them decision-making power, and finance the rescue so as not to lose their investment.
On February 27, Viva Air decided to suspend its operations. According to the Minister of Transportation, Guillermo Reyes, the airline previously collected an amount that amounts, in a preliminary way, to $272,000 million for the sale of air tickets, ticket holders and receipt of payments from various travel agencies.
For this reason, Reyes filed a criminal complaint against Viva before the Prosecutor’s Office for the alleged commission of the crimes of aggravated fraud in mass modality and deceptive offer of products and services.