Bankrupt Avianca Brasil Is Officially Out of Star Alliance
Avianca Brasil remains on the rolls of Star Alliance even though it has not operated a passenger flight since May, when Brazilian aviation regulators grounded the failing carrier.
That will change in less than a month when what's left of the Brazilian carrier exits Star on Sept. 1, the alliance said Monday.
"Initially joining Star Alliance in 2015, Avianca Brasil made important contributions to our customer proposition in the Brazilian market, and we regret this unfortunate development," said Jeffrey Goh, CEO of Star, in a statement.
Avianca Brasil, formerly Ocean Air, is not to be confused with Colombia's Avianca. While the airline shares a name with South America's second largest carrier, it is a completely separate airline owned by Synergy Group. Synergy also owns a majority stake in Avianca.
Avianca, as well as Copa Airlines, will remain as Star's two Latin American members when Avianca Brasil officially exits the alliance.
Related: New United, Avianca and Copa Partnership Hits Snag
United Airlines, Star's largest member, serves Rio de Janeiro Galeão (GIG) and São Paulo Guarulhos (GRU) from the US. In addition, it codeshares with Azul, the third-largest carrier in Brazil, on a number of routes in the country.
Azul will launch a new shuttle between Brazil's two most sought after city airports -- Rio's Santos Dumont (SDU) and São Paulo's Congonhas (CGH) -- with slots acquired through Avianca Brasil's bankruptcy later this month.
