After the Colombian government decided to ban all regular international air travel to and from the country to help prevent the spread of Coronavirus, Avianca is suspending its last remaining routes.
The Colombian flag-carrier cancelled all its international routes since Monday, in line with the government issued restrictions. The Bogota-based airline, which last year celebrated its 100th anniversary, is now extending this suspension to all domestic flights as well, effective from Wednesday, March 25.
Its entire fleet of passenger aircraft will be grounded, Avianca says. The company had initially intended to continue operating a minimal domestic schedule. It has offered different governments to operate chartered repatriation/rescue flights to transport stranded travelers back to their home countries.
The airline expects domestic flights to gradually resume on April 13 and international flights on May 1.
Cargo flights are not affected and Avianca Cargo continues to serve its regular flight schedule.
Avianca Holdings President and CEO, Anko van der Werff, said in a statement that more than 12,000 employees have agreed to take ‘voluntary unpaid leave’.
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Jakob Wert is an aviation journalist from Germany. He built up the website IFN.news and is the Editor-In-Chief of International Flight Network.
