Tag: brasil (Page 3 of 3)

Avianca Brasil Looking for Additional Capital

January 23, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

SAO PAULO, Jan 22 (Reuters) – Avianca Brasil, which filed for bankruptcy protection in December, is looking for a cash injection and has hired Brazilian consulting firm Galeazzi & Associados to help in talks with investors and creditors, the airline said.

Galeazzi’s executives are already visiting the carrier’s creditors to discuss options, a source said, asking for anonymity to disclose private talks. Reuters first reported the news of the Galeazzi hire, citing sources.

Avianca shareholders are discussing a potential cash injection with different investors, including hedge fund Elliott Management Corp, two sources said. Any investment now would need to happen within the bankruptcy protection process, likely in the form of debtor-in-possession financing.

Elliott and Galeazzi did not immediately reply to requests for comment.

Any capital injection or loan would need authorization from the bankruptcy judge.

Avianca is battling two of its main aircraft lessors, Aircastle Ltd and General Electric Co’s unit GE Capital Aviation Services, who have tried so far unsuccessfully to ground or repossess 40 percent of its fleet.

Avianca also said in the statement it continues to operate normally.

The escalating legal battle has added to the uncertainty surrounding Avianca Brasil’s ability to maintain its current flight schedule.

(Reporting by Tatiana Bautzer Editing by Susan Thomas and Alistair Bell)

Avianca Brasil Lessor Set to Seize 20% of Airline’s Fleet

January 11, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

SAO PAULO, Jan 11 (Reuters) – Lessor Aircastle is set to repossess 10 jets from Avianca Brasil, the country’s No. 4 airline, after a bankruptcy hearing on Monday, a source familiar with the matter said, potentially disrupting flights for thousands of passengers.

The 10 Airbus A320 planes represent more than 20 percent of Avianca Brasil’s current fleet, according to data provided by Brazil’s aviation regulator, raising doubts about the carrier’s ability to fly its full flight schedule if the aircraft are seized.

And it could lose more planes in the future. Lessor GE Capital Aviation Services and an affiliate are seeking to repossess 12 Airbus A320s from Avianca Brasil, according to James Luton, a GE spokesman.

When the airline filed for bankruptcy protections last month, the airline discussed the possible loss of 14 planes, which it said would affect 77,000 passengers over a three-week period.

A representative for Avianca Brasil declined to comment. The bankruptcy filing came after years of mounting losses and late aircraft payments.

Bankruptcy filings, while providing protection from creditors, do not cover leases, the source of the carrier’s entire 46-aircraft fleet.

Between the end of 2016 and September 2018, Avianca Brasil’s liabilities to aircraft lessors quintupled to 415 million reais ($112 million), according to the carrier’s financial statements.

Still, a Brazilian bankruptcy judge stayed a decision that would have allowed Aircastle to repossess the planes last month. That stay, however, expires on Monday.

Since the stay was issued, the source said, Avianca Brasil has not made any proposal to Aircastle that would have allowed the carrier to keep the planes. Avianca Brasil owes Aircastle more than $30 million, the source added.

The stakes are also high for Aircastle, as Avianca Brasil is its largest single customer, representing some 7 percent of its net book value, according to the lessor’s financial disclosures.

Avianca Brasil is separate from the better-known Avianca Holdings SA, which is based in Colombia. But they share the same owner, a family company owned in part by Bolivian-born airline entrepreneur German Efromovich.

United Continental Holdings gave the family company a $500 million loan last November.

Neither party has revealed why the loan was needed, but Efromovich has been sued for failure to repay his debts in the United States and Brazil in recent years.

($1 = 3.7138 reais)

(Reporting by Marcelo Rochabrun)

Will Brazil’s Azul Join Avianca-United Airlines Alliance?

December 3, 2018 / WIL BALDWIN

SAO PAULO, Dec 3 (Reuters) – Two Brazilian airlines, Azul SA and Avianca Brasil, are targets for expansion in the wide-ranging alliance between United Continental Holdings Inc , Colombia’s Avianca Holdings and Panama’s Copa Airlines on U.S.-Latin America routes, Avianca Holdings’ Chief Financial Officer, Gerardo Grajales, told Reuters on Monday.

There was little reference to Brazil, by far the region’s largest market, when the alliance was announced on Friday, but Grajales said the parties to the agreement already had in mind Azul and Avianca Brasil, which operates independently of Colombia-based Avianca Holdings.

“The two airlines complement each other in the Brazilian market,” Grajales said. “From the beginning we thought that Brazil should be covered by our agreement, however, no partnership would be authorized if it did not have an Open Skies agreement.”

The Open Skies agreement between Brazil and the United States was signed into law in May, when discussions among the three airlines were already advanced, he explained.

The airline agreement mimics a partnership between American Airlines and Chile’s Latam Airlines which has been mired in regulatory scrutiny.

The announcement between the United Airlines parent, Avianca and Copa capped off almost two years of negotiations. United will loan Avianca’s majority shareholder almost $500 million to be spent on ventures outside of the airline.

Depending on how it is repaid, United could end up owning a large chunk of the Colombian carrier. United is making no monetary investment in Copa or its affiliates.

United already owns an 8 percent stake in Azul, and has a codesharing agreement with Avianca Brasil, formerly known as Ocean Air.

Shares in Azul were down almost 5 percent on Monday afternoon in Sao Paulo. The world’s largest asset manager BlackRock disclosed late on Friday that it had sold an almost 10 percent stake in Azul’s preferred shares. Hours earlier, the carrier disclosed in another securities filing that it sought to double in size in the next five years.

Azul did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (Reporting by Marcelo Rochabrun; Editing by David Gregorio)

Image from en.wikipedia.org

New Brazil President Bolsonaro OK With Embraer-Boeing Deal

October 29, 2018 / WIL BALDWIN

RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct 29 (Reuters) – Brazilian President-elect Jair Bolsonaro has a positive view of a proposed commercial aviation partnership between Boeing Co and local aircraft maker Embraer SA, Bolsonaro’s choice for defense minister told Reuters on Monday.

Former General Augusto Heleno said the deal could be cleared by the current administration of President Michel Temer, although Bolsonaro’s team would like to see details of the proposed joint venture.

“It’s not that the government is leaving and so it cannot take any action,” Heleno said, referring to the outgoing Temer administration. “If we had a conversation and we reached a conclusion, ‘Look, everything’s good, this is worth it,’ we don’t have to keep waiting,” Heleno said.

Embraer reached a preliminary agreement in July to sell 80 percent of its commercial jet division to Boeing in a venture valued at $4.75 billion. The deal has not closed yet, in part because Brazil’s government holds a “golden share” that grants it veto power over strategic business decisions at Embraer.

Last week, the current defense minister, Joaquim Silva e Luna, told Reuters that Brazil’s next president would be presented with the details of the deal.

(Reporting by Rodrigo Viga Gaier and Ricardo Brito Writing by Marcelo Rochabrun; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)

Image from www.embraer.com

Embraer Delivers 25 Jets in 1Q18

April 16, 2018 / WIL BALDWIN

SAO JOSE DOS CAMPOS, Brazil, April 16, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — During the first quarter of 2018 (1Q18), Embraer (NYSE: ERJ; BM&FBOVESPA: EMBR3) delivered 14 jets to the commercial aviation market across the U.S., Europe and Asia Pacific. In the business aviation market, 11 aircraft were delivered in the same period, being eight light jets and three large jets.

See the details below:


Deliveries by Segment	1Q18

*Commercial Aviation*	14
EMBRAER 175 (E175)	11
EMBRAER 190 (E190)	3

*Executive Aviation*	11
Phenom 100	3
Phenom 300	5
Light Jets	8
Legacy 450	2
Legacy 500	1
Large Jets	3

TOTAL	25

With respect to the Company’s consolidated firm order backlog value in USD, Embraer will be releasing the value of its consolidated 1Q18 backlog together with the 1Q18 earnings results on April 27, 2018, as it is now part of the Financial Statements according to the new IFRS 15 requirements.

The quarter’s main highlight was the triple certification for the E190-E2, the first member of the E-Jets E2 family of commercial aircraft, from the Brazilian Civil Aviation Agency (Agência Nacional de Aviação Civil – ANAC), the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) and EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency). It is the first time that an aircraft program with the level of complexity of the E2 receives a type certificate from three major worldwide certification authorities simultaneously. Before the certification, Embraer announced some final flight tests results confirming the E2 as the most efficient single-aisle aircraft on the market. In fuel consumption, the E190-E2 proved to be 1.3% better than originally expected, a 17.3% improvement compared to the current- generation E190.

The E190-E2 also becomes the most environmentally friendly aircraft in its class, with the lowest levels of external noise and emissions. Flight test results also confirmed the E190-E2 to be better than its original specification in takeoff performance. The aircraft’s range from airports with hot-and-high conditions, such as Denver and Mexico City, increases by 600 nm compared to current-generation aircraft. Its range from airports with short runways, such as London City, also increases by more than 1,000 nm allowing the aircraft to reach destinations like Moscow and cities in the north of Africa.

The E190-E2 will also have the longest maintenance intervals among single-aisle aircraft with 10,000 flight hours for basic checks and no calendar limit for typical utilization. This means an additional 15 days of aircraft utilization over ten years compared to current generation E-Jets. Another key gain is with pilot transition training time. Pilots of current-generation E-Jets will need only 2.5 days of training and no full flight simulator to be qualified to fly an E2.

Embraer Defense & Security announced, at the Singapore Airshow, the signing of a Letter of Intent with aviation services company SkyTech for up to six new KC-390 multi-mission transport aircraft. The aircraft are earmarked for multiple defense projects and both companies have also agreed on a potential strategic collaboration to jointly explore new business opportunities in training and services.

During 1Q18, Embraer delivered the first new Phenom 300E business jet after receiving certification from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), and the Brazilian Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC – Agência Nacional de Aviação Civil). The new light jet model was launched—and debuted—at the 2017 National Business Aviation Association’s Business Aviation Conference and Exhibition (NBAA-BACE), in October 2017.

Avianca Brasil Looking for Additional Capital

Avianca Brasil Lessor Set to Seize 20% of Airline’s Fleet

Will Brazil’s Azul Join Avianca-United Airlines Alliance?

New Brazil President Bolsonaro OK With Embraer-Boeing Deal

Embraer Delivers 25 Jets in 1Q18

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