The  privately-operated Mexicana flew from 1921 to 2010 making it one of the oldest airlines in the world. It kept company with Australia’s Qantas, Colombia’s Avianca and KLM of the Netherlands.

The airline was grounded before it made its 90th birthday, just months after joining the One World alliance. The grounding stranded passengers in 16 countries and impacted 8,500 employees.

 Mexico’s Federal Judiciary Council ordered an end to efforts to revive moribund airline through bankruptcy proceedings, saying no credible new investor had expressed interest in the carrier. The decision means an administrator will be appointed to start selling off the company’s assets to repay the airline’s debts. It means the airline will never fly again.

The man who controlled Mexicana before bankruptcy, Gaston Azcarraga, has been charged with illegal use of the airline’s funds but remains at large. He bought the airline in 2006 after it was privatised.