Troubled Avianova stops online ticket sales

Russian low-cost carrier Avianova has stopped online ticket sales from Sunday and could stop flights as soon as Monday night, Moscow News reported. It said the carrier is facing “a difficult liquidity crisis” and its partners will stop maintenance of its six Airbus A320s from Oct. 3. About 70,000 passengers could face travel disruptions.

The company encountered financial problems earlier this year when its shareholders, Alfa-Group A1 (51%) and US investment fund Indigo Partners (49%), ceased funding the venture following a $1 million injection in January. At the end of 2010, A1 discovered the carrier’s losses were $20 million larger than expected. The total losses were approximately $37 million, Moscow News said, quoting sources from A1.

The carrier named Dmitri Mirgorodsky chief operations officer in December (ATW Daily News, Dec. 8, 2010).

Airline management said it will try to find the money to compensate passengers and if there is not enough money, it will be paid out from a government program created to compensate passengers. It also has debts on lease payments for its A320s and is being sued by ILFC.

Avianova carried 866,000 passengers in the first eight months of this year and is the 12th largest Russian airline in terms of passenger numbers, according to Moscow News.