Bolivia’s Second-Largest Airline, Amaszonas, Has a New Owner

In the context of suspending its regular flights for over a month due to a dispute with the Bolivian government and the lessor of its aircraft, Nella Airlines Group announced that it has completed the sale of Amaszonas Línea Aérea, the country’s second-largest airline, to businessman Luiz Divino.

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«This transaction marks a significant milestone in the journey of our organization, and we are confident that under the new management, Amaszonas will continue to thrive and maintain its distinguished standard of service quality and punctuality,» says the statement from Nella.

Nella Airlines Group had purchased Amaszonas in August 2021 with an investment of USD 50 million when, after surviving the pandemic, the company was going through a delicate financial situation due to the lack of support from the Bolivian government to carry out a rescue plan for the national aviation sector.

At that time, the new CEO of the newly branded «Amaszonas by Nella», Mauricio Souza, had said that their goal was to triple the number of flights and routes and create 300 new jobs, promoting Santa Cruz de la Sierra as a regional hub.

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However, Bolivia’s political and economic environment (and the region’s as well) did not facilitate the company’s growth, with mutual accusations of favoritism towards the state-owned Boliviana de Aviación, such as the decision made in August by the General Directorate of Civil Aeronautics to suspend the registrations of Amaszonas’ four Embraer E190 due to a claim for lease payment debts made by GY Aviation Lease 1816 (more than USD 15 million according to the company). This caused Amaszonas to suspend all its flights since then, leaving it in a terminal state.

Amaszonas Network

Up to July 2023, Amaszonas flew from its hub at the Viru Viru Airport in Santa Cruz de la Sierra (VVI) to Asunción (ASU), Cochabamba (CBB), Iquique (IQQ), La Paz (LPB), and Sucre (SRE), as well as between the latter two cities.

According to data obtained by Aviacionline from Cirium, the company operated on average about 140 weekly flights, offering 15,400 seats.