Brazilian Airline Avianca Brasil, which filed for bankruptcy protection in December, said late on Friday that a judge had decided that it would be allowed to maintain its current fleet of planes under operation until at least April.

The ruling from the bankruptcy court came after requests from some creditors to be allowed to repossess some of Avianca's planes.

The judge, according to the airline, decided to give the company time until a scheduled creditors' assembly in early April to try to find a solution for its financing difficulties.

Avianca Brasil has been talking to hedge fund Elliott Management Corp about the hedge fund providing a 250 million real (US$68.59 million) loan, sources told Reuters this week.