Mexican low cost airline Interjet “categorically denies” a claim that it is bankrupt. The statement comes following a publication in the media, in which the airline’s CFO is quoted arguing otherwise.
The airline claims that a judicial review filed by it in a legal dispute with the Internal Revenue Service of Mexico was “misinterpreted”, according to a statement on August 30, 2019. “At no time, the company has recognized the existence of a technical bankruptcy,” it also reads.
Furthermore, Interjet’s statement outlines that “bankruptcy can only be declared by court order, and cannot be self-imposed by the debtor or any other entity. It’s a legal process through which the insolvency of a company has to be proved. This is not the case of the current situation of Interjet because the company continues paying its debts”.
Earlier on the same day, Raul Lopez, Chief Financial Officer of Interjet, was quoted in a publication by Bloomberg allegedly stating that if forced to pay $30 million in unpaid taxes from 2013, the airline’s normal operations would be put in a “serious predicament”. The CFO allegedly also said that the airline’s financial results in 2013-2018 “can be interpreted as the airline’s technical bankruptcy”.
In August 2019, Russian business daily Vedomosti reported that Interjet is looking to get rid of “as much as possible” of its fleet of 22 Superjet 100 aircraft. The publication, which quotes three sources familiar with the matter (from the plane manufacturer’s side), states that two sources explained that the decision is based on the airline’s “financial condition”.