Air Europa has carried a multi‑year, multi‑million euro hole in Venezuela due to frozen funds from ticket sales. Venezuelan authorities have blocked roughly 200 million dollars (about 180 million euros at current rates) that the carrier cannot repatriate because of local restrictions.
In 2019 Air Europa hired a mediator to pursue this debt with Venezuelan authorities. The intermediary, linked to the country’s Ministry of Transport during a tense period around pandemic responses, was paid 10,000 euros per month and billed through MTM 180 Ltd. as advisory services to Globalia, the Air Europa parent group.
Insiders say the airline remains unable to collect the money. Venezuelan officials have floated compensation schemes that would use cryptocurrency, oil, or even putting state‑owned hotel assets in tourist destinations like Margarita Island on the table, but none have satisfied the airline. Current Globalia owners continue discussions with Caracas through lawyers and their delegate in the country to recover the blocked funds.
Clause in the contract with IAG
The Hidalgo family, owners of Globalia, has negotiated the sale of Air Europa to IAG, the parent company of Iberia, Vueling, and British Airways, and now awaits approval from the European Commission. The sales agreements signed in 2019 and last year include a clause reserving the right to claim the 180 million dollars blocked in Venezuela if recovery becomes possible after the sale. This information is reported by the Spanish paper El Periódico, citing sources familiar with the situation. Official comments from IAG and Air Europa were not provided.
The issue with fund repatriation for international firms operating in Venezuela began decades ago. In 2003, Hugo Chávez’s government imposed strict currency controls. Companies dealing in bolívar and seeking to repatriate profits in dollars had to transact at the state’s official exchange rate with explicit authorization from authorities.
This regime functioned for years, and for foreign airlines with routes in Venezuela, it was common practice to sell tickets in bolívares and repatriate earnings in dollars at the official rate, which was not always favorable. In 2012 the government started to struggle with dollar obligations and delayed repatriations, eventually nearly halting them altogether.
A selective default followed, prompting many international carriers to suspend flights to Venezuela or stop selling tickets there. Instead, they conducted business in other jurisdictions, a policy Air Europa and Iberia followed as well, which left sizeable debts accumulated in Venezuela.
Contact at the hotel inauguration
Regarding Víktor de Aldama, sources note that Globalia executives met the businessman, whom authorities now investigate, during the 2018 inauguration of a hotel in Mexico. They later engaged him as an intermediary in the Venezuela funds matter. The mandate letter detailing his authority to engage with the other party is in investigators’ possession.
An internal report from the National Fraud Inspection Office connects the 10,000‑euro monthly payments to Globalia with the start of the Koldo scheme and ties it to a government loan Air Europa received during the pandemic to avoid bankruptcy. Specifically, the report points to a decision-making process in 2020 at the Transport Ministry to rescue the airline through a mask contract.
Air Europa ultimately received a 140‑million‑euro loan backed by the Official Credit Institute, plus support totaling 475 million euros through the Strategic Companies Solvency Support Fund, split between a standard loan of 235 million and a participatory loan of 240 million. In total, the public funds received by the airline reached 615 million euros.
The Treasury inspector overseeing the report emphasizes that proximity to certain officials, and the timing around March 2020, affected the terms, transport arrangements, and pricing of masks and the ministry’s acceptance.
The report also notes the presence of De Aldama at Barajas airport on January 20, 2020, the same day Vice President Delcy Rodríguez stopped in Madrid en route to Turkey and met with then‑Transport Minister Ábalos. The document calls attention to this coincidence as part of the broader inquiry into the so‑called Delcygate incident.