MIAMI -- AeroPeru shut down all international service on March 9
and planned to operate limited domestic service at Lima, Cuzco and
Iquitos only through March 13.
The carrier said the shutdown was temporary, about 60 to 90
days, and would allow the carrier to reorganize under Peru's
bankruptcy laws.
The news sent tour operators, whose description of the sudden
shutdown ranged from "messy" to a "nightmare," on a search for
alternate transportation.
Annie Berk, vice president of Ladatco Tours in Miami, said she
was shifting passengers to Aero Continente for domestic service.
Aero Continente, which has three 727s, eight 737s and some smaller
planes, operates a route structure similar to AeroPeru's domestic
service.
Berk said she had no difficulty reaccommodating passengers "for
the short term," but both she and Daniel Taramona of Tara Tours
expressed concerns over the long-term competitive situation if a
carrier is eliminated from the market.
Lima is served by American and United from Miami, by Delta from
Atlanta and by Continental from Houston. Continental and LanChile
serve Lima from the New York area.
American dropped its New York-Lima service on March 1; last
year, it operated to Cuzco, the airport for Macchu Piccu, as an
extension of that service but dropped the route after a few
months.
Taramona said his firm used AeroPeru for international as well
as domestic flights.
Aero Continente could accommodate his passengers on domestic
routes, he said, but for passengers already ticketed on
international flights, "nobody will take this paper."
Delta said it would honor AeroPeru tickets on a standby basis
only if a traveler was in the middle of the trip.
Robert Booth of Aviation Management Services, a Latin America
aviation specialist in Miami, said Peru's bankruptcy laws are
similar to those in the U.S. and would provide protection much like
Chapter 11 while the carrier reorganized.
"Obviously, they're out of cash," Booth said, but the long term
"looks good" for AeroPeru. He said the carrier's $174 million in
debt was "horrendous" for a small carrier, but he added that
AeroPeru already had resolved about half of it. In addition, Booth
said, Peru is a "strong" tourism destination and Lima is "a natural
hub" for the region.
However, he said, shareholders, which include Delta and
Aeromexico, are "wiped out, basically," and AeroPeru is in the
hands of a creditors committee. He said the carrier needs a capital
investment of about $40 million; some Peruvian investors have
expressed an interest, he added.