(Bloomberg) — Avianca Holdings SA, one of the biggest carriers in Latin America, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after travel bans across the region forced the Colombian airline to ground its fleet.Avianca, which counts United Airlines Holdings Inc. and Kingsland Holdings as stakeholders, filed for protection from its creditors in the Southern District of New York, according to court papers. It listed as much as $10 billion in liabilities and the same amount in assets. The company said it will not make bond payments due Monday.The carrier grounded planes in late March after governments across Latin America sealed borders to curb the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. Avianca had just emerged from a tumultuous year in which it restructured debt and embarked on a business turnaround plan aimed at restoring profitability by focusing on flights through its Bogota hub. It cited the impact of the pandemic in a statement Sunday, adding that it intends to keep flying during the reorganization.“Avianca is facing the most challenging crisis in our 100-year history as we navigate the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic,” Chief Executive Officer Anko Van Der Werff said in the statement. “We believe that a reorganization under Chapter 11 is the best path forward to protect the essential air travel and air transport services that we provide across Colombia and other markets throughout Latin America.”Quick and OrderlyIn late March, the company deferred lessor payments, canceled planned investments and offered unpaid leave to the majority of its 21,000 employees to cut costs. The company also delayed filing its annual report until June and said it will include a warning that there’s substantial doubt about Avianca’s ability to stay in business.By filing for protection in New York, the company laid out a clearer path for its creditors, said Roger Horn, a senior emerging markets strategist at SMBC Nikko Securities America in New York.“Unlike with so many messy Latin American bankruptcy situations, at least a U.S. filing is quick and orderly and allows for debtor-in-possession financing,” he said. “Avianca could have a chance of coming out of this crisis actually operating as an airline.”The bankruptcy will be felt widely in the rest of the struggling airline industry, with providers of aircraft, jet engines and maintenance services among Avianca’s biggest unsecured creditors. The documents show more than $30 million each is owed to IAE International Aero Engines AG and General Electric & CMF International. Over $28 million of obligations are listed for Rolls Royce Plc.Lufthansa Group is owed $4.44 million, a unit of Boeing Co. is due $3.66 million and Airbus claims total $2.83 million.Skipped PaymentsAvianca will not pay a $65.6 million bond maturity or make a coupon on bonds due in 2023, Chief Financial Officer Adrian Neuhauser said in an online briefing Sunday evening. The payments are due Monday and the company decided to keep as much liquidity as possible during the restructuring, he said.The company requested authority to continue paying wages and honoring employee benefit programs, as well as pay vendors and suppliers, it said in the statement. It intends to “wind-down” operations in Peru “to renew its focus on core markets upon emergence from its court-supervised reorganization.” Peru represents about 5% of operations, the company said.Its loyalty program, LifeMiles, which is a separate business, was not affected by the filing, the company said in a statement.Avianca said it remains in discussions with government officials in Colombia and in other countries to provide financial support during the reorganization. Neuhauser said those discussions involve debtor-in-possession financing, which can often last months.“While these discussions are ongoing, the company intends to utilize its cash on hand, combined with funds generated from its ongoing operations (such as cargo), to support the business during the court-supervised reorganization process,” Van Der Werff said in the statement.Van der Werff has been in charge only since June 2019, when Avianca’s finances were already shaky. The company is getting financial advice from Seabury Securities LLC and FTI Consulting, with legal help from Milbank LLP, Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP, Gómez-Pinzón Abogados and Urdaneta, Vélez, Pearl & Abdallah Abogados.The case is Avianca Inc., 20-11132, U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York(Updates with company statement starting in 2nd paragraph)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

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Quidel (QDEL) has now received Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the US FDA for its Sofia 2 SARS Antigen FIA, a rapid point-of-care test for suspected COVID-19 infection.According to the FDA, this is a new category of tests that will now be available for use in the ongoing pandemic. “The antigen diagnostic tests quickly detect fragments of proteins found on or within the virus by testing samples collected from the nasal cavity using swabs” the FDA says.One of the main advantages of an antigen test is the speed of the test, which can provide results in minutes. However, antigen tests may not detect all active infections, as they are less sensitive than molecular PCR tests.This means that negative results from an antigen test may need to be confirmed with a PCR test prior to making treatment decisions or to prevent the possible spread of the virus due to a false negative, the administration added.Notably, antigen tests can generally be produced at a lower cost than PCR tests, the FDA stated, and once multiple manufacturers enter the market, can potentially scale to test millions of people per day due to their simpler design.“I am tremendously proud of our organization’s ability to quickly develop and mobilize an accurate rapid antigen test,” said Douglas Bryant, Quidel's CEO. “The EUA for our Sofia 2 SARS Antigen FIA allows us to arm our healthcare workers and first responders with a frontline solution for COVID-19 diagnosis, accelerating the time to diagnosis and potential treatment of COVID-19 for the patient.”The test is now available for sale in the US and is being shipped to customers.Shares in Quidel have put on a dramatic rally recently, more than doubling year-to-date. However the stock has a Hold analyst consensus, while the $90 average analyst price target indicates downside potential of over 40%. (See QDEL stock analysis on TipRanks)Related News: RBC: 2 Strong Value Stocks to Buy Now Gilead’s Remdesivir Will Be Distributed By State Health Departments Coronavirus Vaccine Makes Moderna Stock a Valuation Momentum Trade, Says J.P. Morgan More recent articles from Smarter Analyst: * Uber Puts Hopes on Food Delivery Momentum After $2.9 Billion Loss * ON Semiconductor Quarterly Earnings Miss, Sees Orders Coming Back * Eli Lilly Wins FDA Approval For Retevmo Lung, Thyroid Cancer Treatment * 3 "Strong Buy" Penny Stocks with Massive Upside Ahead

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