Grounded Airline Mexicana Makes Test Flights, Hopes To Return

Airline Mexicana de Aviacion, grounded last year amid bankruptcy proceedings, carried out two test flights Thursday in what authorities hope to be a harbinger of the company's eventual relaunch, Dow Jones reported. Two Airbus A320s, operated by Mexicana, flew to Acapulco from Mexico City and back to re-certify their engines, Labor Minister Javier Lozano said in a posting on his Twitter account. "Next week there will be more Mexicana flights for the company's certification," he said. Mexicana, grounded in August after filing for bankruptcy protection, missed an initial goal to fly again by December. Since then, Lozano and his counterparts at the Communications and Transportation Ministry have set--and subsequently pushed back--new deadlines for Mexico's former leading airline group to resume operations. Authorities last year approved of a restructuring plan for Mexicana presented by PC Capital, a local private equity firm. Under the plan, Mexicana would reduce its fleet to a fraction of the former size, exclusively fly Airbus A320 aircraft, and focus only on profitable, high-traffic routes. Deputy Minister for Transportation, Humberto Trevino, said earlier this month that Mexicana would need an investment of around $200 million and the approval of creditors representing at least 51% of its debt. Read more. (Subscription required.)