Viva Airlines Stops Operations - 28 Feb 2023

[macdaddi]

If you are traveling  to Colombia this week, or planning an internal flight within the country, be aware that Viva Air ceased operations today with no notice, leaving hundreds of thousands stranded in airports across Colombia and around Latin America and the USA (Miami). Today has been total chaos in Colombia as passengers attempted to get answers from Viva, who left their employees to fend off angry crowds with zero information about the status.

Other airlines like Avianca and LATAM have offered to transport ticket holders, creating additional delays and flight cancellations as ticket sales have been suspended while they try to clean up Viva's mess.

I will update as I find English resources but here is a good article in Spanish explaining what has happened

https://www.infobae.com/colombia/2023/02/28/crisis-de-viva-air-estas-son-las-razones-que-llevaron-a-la-quiebra-de-la-aerolinea/

[xpaulo]

I only used Latam during my Jan/Feb trip and all the flights were great. I took the bus from Manizales to Medellin rather than Viva which had terrible reviews... yes, the bus was six hours for 200 kilometres, but it was on schedule.

[macdaddi]

Wow! On the bus. But I agree with your choice -- I absolutely despise Viva Air (not a secret from my posts here), but for many it was an economical option for local air travel around Colombia, Peru and Ecuador. They even had twice-weekly flight from MDE to MIA.  But I am decidely in the "good riddance" camp here. Just a shame to witness the ensuing chaos. Should be flying out from MDE this Friday but let us see if the protests continue.

https://www.infobae.com/colombia/2023/02/28/video-cancelacion-de-vuelos-de-viva-air-tambien-provoco-protestas-en-el-aeropuerto-de-rionegro-antioquia/

[Tomtravel]

Viva was nicer then Ryanair. We are trained in Europe to fly in horrible conditions, so Viva was pleasant.

[Boy69]

In my last visit 2 months ago I used only Latam little bit expensive than Viva but I was pleased with their service so it was absolutely worth the extra dollars.

[macdaddi]

El Pais - translated article today  https://english.elpais.com/economy-and-business/2023-02-28/viva-air-cancels-all-its-flights-and-unleashes-chaos-in-colombia.html

 

[macdaddi]

Quick follow up — the clean up continues and if you are looking to book a trip to or witihin Colombia in March/April, prices have spiked with the loss of a major competitor. Pretty much all flight prices have increased 40% since the collapse. Cheap flights have vanished as airlines look to cash in on demand.

[macdaddi]

On 2/28/2023 at 7:18 PM, macdaddi said:

If you are traveling  to Colombia this week, or planning an internal flight within the country, be aware that Viva Air ceased operations today with no notice, leaving hundreds of thousands stranded in airports across Colombia and around Latin America and the USA (Miami). Today has been total chaos in Colombia as passengers attempted to get answers from Viva, who left their employees to fend off angry crowds with zero information about the status.

Other airlines like Avianca and LATAM have offered to transport ticket holders, creating additional delays and flight cancellations as ticket sales have been suspended while they try to clean up Viva's mess.

Updated March 23 - 2023

The merger between Avianca and Viva (which started this entire mess) was finally approved yesterday. No idea if Avianca intends to reintroduce budget fares via the Viva brand, but I was shocked to see a Viva plan take off at El Dorado - Bogotá yesterday.  Stay tuned.