Creditors led by hedge fund Elliott Management approved on Friday a restructuring plan for bankrupt airline Avianca Brasil, hours after the country’s antitrust regulator announced preemptively that the plan could run afoul of competition laws, Reuters reported. The regulator, known as CADE, said on Friday morning that it could block the plan, which Avianca Brasil hopes could raise some $210 million. The carrier filed for bankruptcy protection in December. CADE’s warning means the creditor approval may not bring short term relief to Avianca Brasil given that the regulator itself said that its review of the deal could last some eight months. During that time, the cash-strapped carrier would have to operate with its own funds, or take on additional debt. The plan was modified on Friday during a creditors’ meeting, although the new details were not immediately available. Under Avianca Brasil’s plan filed this week, Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA and LATAM Airlines Group would buy Avianca Brasil’s airport rights, known as slots, in three high-traffic terminals. Gol and LATAM already control over two-thirds of the slots in each of those three airports, two of which are in Sao Paulo and one in Rio de Janeiro.
