The airline Viva Colombia is under financial pressure and has to cancel the first flight routes. The company justifies this, among other things, with the fact that funds from an investor have not arrived and there is still no green light for the planned merger with Avianca.

On Friday it was announced that three connections from Cali could no longer be served. These lead to Cartagena, Santa Marta and San Andrés. The airline concerned also did not beat around the bush in a statement: “The reduction in our offer of 17 flights per week from Cali to the beach destinations in Colombia is due to the complex macroeconomic conditions affecting the aviation industry and Viva in particular , which, having no investor to back it financially, cannot bear the extra costs caused by exchange rates, inflation and fuel prices”.

Viva Colombia has been under massive pressure for some time. The carrier was unable to recover from the effects of the corona pandemic and is also confronted with sharply increased fuel prices. In order to be able to reduce costs in the short term, an agreement was reached with some lessors on the early return of aircraft. The route network has not been expanded since 2021, but has been reduced. A merger with competitor Avianca is being sought, but this has not yet been approved.