Colombian airline Avianca says has completed bankruptcy process

BOGOTA (Reuters) – Colombian airline Avianca said on Wednesday it has successfully completed its Chapter 11 bankruptcy process, a month after a U.S. court approved its reorganization process.

“Today the prior conditions have been completed,” the airline said in a statement from Bogota. Avianca “has emerged successfully from said process.”

Avianca, along with rival Chile’s LATAM Airlines, were the two largest carriers in the region before the coronavirus pandemic, but both were sent into bankruptcy restructuring when the virus upended air travel, amid especially strict restrictions in Latin America.

Avianca had already posted several years of losses before the pandemic began, and went through a boardroom coup in 2019 led by United Airlines.

The Southern District of New York approved the company’s reorganization plan in early November, a day before Avianca announced it will move its domicile to Britain and its stock will no longer be traded on the Colombian stock exchange.

Once its principle domicile is established in Britain, the company will be known as Avianca Group International Ltd. Its current shareholders will not receive any payout or be included as shareholders in Avianca Group, the airline has said.

(This story refiles to change to ‘airline’ from ‘airliner’ throughout)

(Reporting by Julia Symmes Cobb; Editing by Marguerita Choy)