The low-cost airline Ultra Air announced the cessation of its activities this Wednesday. In a statement, it has said it will not be flying on any of the scheduled routes from this Thursday, March 30, hours before the start of the Easter holidays. In the text, the company attributes its bankruptcy to “macroeconomic situations in the industry,” including increases in fuel costs and the exchange rate that have meant it has been “working in deficit” in recent months.
In the same statement, the company undertakes “to work to minimize the impact on airline users” and invites its customers to send their requests to [email protected] and on its page www.ultraair.com . The site’s calendars that are still active show an icon each day after March 29, indicating that there are no seats available.
Transport Minister Guillermo Reyes confirmed that Ultra Air President William Shaw had informed him of the cessation of operations of the company, which had provided its services with three aircraft. In addition, he reported that an emergency plan has already been implemented and a unified command post has been activated together with civil aviation and the inspectorates of industry, commerce and transport to deal with the emergency.
Reyes added: “We have asked Ultra’s President and Directives to provide us with the status of passengers and confirmed flights they have for these days and for Easter. We will request a rescheduling or cash payment.” He also noted that there will be regulatory personnel at Cartagena and San Andrés airports to deal with the concerns or claims of affected passengers.
Similarly, Reyes announced that Avianca will participate in serving travelers who have already purchased Ultra services: Up to 1. The benefit depends on the seat and order of arrival. And until April 9 there are “protective fares for routes to national and international destinations” for customers of the same two airlines.
The wind of crisis was felt at Ultra Air less than a week ago. On March 23, the airline announced a pause in ticket sales and the suspension of its flights until April 30. Back then, the Superintendency of Transportation implemented some measures to prevent economic problems from affecting both customers and suppliers. The state agency responsible for monitoring and regulating transport companies in the country spoke of the company’s “low liquidity” and the risk of default for its creditors.
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A day later, Ultra Air reported that flight sales had returned to normal. As explained in a statement, shareholders had injected fresh capital in an undisclosed amount. With this, and with the support of state authorities, he hoped to send a sign of reassurance to both his customers and the airline industry. However, given Thursday’s announcement, none of these actions had the desired effect.
The company’s fall comes on top of that which took place on February 28 at another low-cost airline, Viva Air, which unexpectedly announced the cancellation of all its flights, causing chaos at several of Colombia’s main airports with hundreds of passengers stranded for several hours. With that, the Ultra Air news hits an already angry sector.
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