Avianca and sure of its subsidiaries and affiliates filed voluntary petitions under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York to preserve and regroup Avianca ’s businesses . LifeMiles , Avianca ’s commitment program , is administer by a separate company and is not part of the Chapter 11 filing .

The filing was necessitated by the unforeseeable impact of the COVID-19 pandemic , which has lead in a 90 % diminution in global passenger dealings and is expected to concentrate industry revenues worldwide by $ 314 billion , according to the International Air Transport Association . Avianca ’s scheduled passenger performance have been grounded since mid - March , melt off its amalgamate revenue by over 80 % and direct significant pressure on its hard currency reserves .

Through the Chapter 11 shake-up process , Avianca intends to :

“ Avianca is look the most challenging crisis in our 100 - year history as we navigate the burden of the COVID-19 pandemic , ” said Anko van der Werff , Chief Executive Officer of Avianca . “ Despite the positive final result yield by our ‘ Avianca 2021 ’ plan , we believe that , in the human face of a complete grounding of our passenger fleet and a convalescence that will be gradual , introduce into this process is a necessary step to cover our financial challenges . ”

“ When politics - mandated air travel restrictions are move up and we are capable to gradually resume our passenger flight , we wait forward to receive back our lay off employee and playing a leading role in restarting the economy in Colombia and our other key grocery store . We greatly appreciate the dedication of our employee to Avianca and to serving the more than 30 million passengers that fly our airway each yr . We remain attached to our intent to plug in the great unwashed , category and businesses . Our customers can be positive that they can continue to depend on Avianca for safe , reliable and high - character service , and our valued LifeMiles phallus can expect to accrue and redeem mi as normal , ” Mr. Van der Werff continued .

Avianca – like many other airlines around the world , include in the United States , the European Union , and Asia as well as in Latin America – is seeking financial bread and butter from the governments of the land where it provides essential armed service . Avianca continues to be engaged in discourse with the politics of Colombia , as well as those of its other key market place , regarding finance structures that would leave extra liquidity through the Chapter 11 unconscious process and play a vital persona in see that the company emerges from its court - superintend reorganisation as a highly competitive and successful attack aircraft carrier in the Americas . In the interim , while these discussions are ongoing , the ship’s company intends to utilize its cash on mitt , combined with funds generated from its ongoing operation ( such as consignment ) , to substantiate the business organisation during the court - supervised reorganization process .

Mr. Van der Werff add up , “ We consider that a reorganization under Chapter 11 is the best path forward to protect the all important line travelling and line transport services that we furnish across Colombia and other markets throughout Latin America . Avianca has operated for more than 100 long time – only the second airline business in the domain to achieve this milepost . We are confident that through this process we can go along to execute our ‘ Avianca 2021 ’ programme , optimize our working capital social organization and fleet of aircrafts and – with government support – egress as a beneficial , more efficient airline that operates for many more years . ”

Read the full statement from the ship’s company here .