Avianca to suspend international service

Avianca is suspending all international operations and reducing domestic operations in Colombia by 84% from March 23.

The decision means the airline will be forced to ground 132 aircraft: 100 narrowbodies; 22 widebodies; and 10 ATRs. Avianca will use five Airbus A320s and five ATRs for domestic flights.

In a statement, Colombia's flag carrier said domestic operations will include service from Bogota's El Dorado International (BOG) to capital cities and some regions.

However, flights will be “subject to the evolution of the situation, availability and willingness of clients to travel and additional measures that may be taken by local and national governments that affect the operation.”

Avianca said flight scheduling may therefore change on a daily basis.

“These decisions are complicated and painful for Avianca and its employees whose main purpose is to connect passengers to and from Latin America,” the airline said.

According to OAG Schedules Analyser data, between March 23 and April 30 Avianca was scheduled to offer 9,273 international flights across 77 routes with almost 1.5 million seats on offer.

Photo credit: Avianca

David Casey

David Casey is Editor in Chief of Routes, the global route development community's trusted source for news and information.