Colombian airline Ultra Air receives additional funding

Colombian airline Ultra Air has received extra funds from its existing shareholders in order to ensure the continuity of the business and is back taking bookings, according to Colombian media reports.

The financial state of Ultra Air raised alarms in recent days, particularly after March 23, 2023, when the airline stopped taking new bookings and cancelled some flights. The airline attributed the latter measure to the fact that two aircraft had to undergo maintenance.

These developments, together with JetSmart’s decision to withdraw from talks to acquire the company to acquire the company, had prompted Colombian authorities to announce they were closely monitoring the financial situation at Ultra Air.

Until further notice, management at Ultra Air must inform the authorities on a daily basis of its operational situation, providing detailed information on a route-by-route and aircraft-by-aircraft basis.

Colombian authorities are keen to prevent another airline collapse that could potentially leave thousands of passengers stranded, as was the case when Viva Air unexpectedly suspended all flights at the end of February 2023.

On March 16, 2023, Chilean ultra-low-cost carrier JetSmart signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to acquire the ailing carrier but reversed the decision after a few days later. No further explanation was issued regarding the decision.

Instead of acquiring Ultra Air, JetSmart said it preferred to focus on creating its own local subsidiary, as it has already done successfully in Perú and Argentina.

Ultra Air launch operations in February 2022 and currently has a fleet of six Airbus A320-200 aircraft operating an entirely domestic network.