Sky-high debt
Oh, Conviasa…
Just when you had finally paid the debt with the Italian company that leases you a Boeing 767 for your Madrid and Buenos Aires routes, now you have another aircraft retained for lack of payment. Sigh.
In this case, an Airbus A340 is being held in Bordeaux, France (where it was under maintenance) because of unpaid bills. The catch is that this plane is fully owned by Conviasa.
At the same time, the company is now looking for other long-distance airplanes (another A340 and an A310), so they can keep operating their long-distance flights.
But the issue also touches upon the huge debt the central government maintains with multiple international carriers.
This detailed report from news website RunRun.es shows how the state has paid only a fraction of what they owe twenty-three foreign airlines. But as Tourism Minister Andres Izarra insisted that there are “no debts” and that even Alitalia, one of the companies which left not long ago announced that it’s coming back, the overall situation has not improved, forcing people to go through Cucuta, Aruba, or Santo Domingo if they want to travel abroad.
Meanwhile, Maiquetia Airport remains really, really quiet … and with improvised toilets to boot.
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