Mexico City ? Mexicana airlines shut down all flights on Saturday, marking at least a temporary disappearance from the skies of one of the world’s oldest air carriers.

Some airlines offered preferential deals to Mexican passengers scrambling to find alternatives, but many were baffled by how to get home. The loss of Grupo Mexicana flights eliminated much of the air service to many Mexican cities.

“In the face of the serious deterioration of the company’s finances and given the impossibility of reaching agreements to ensure the future viability of the company’s operations, we have been forced to temporarily and indefinitely suspend operations,” according to a recording played on the company’s Mexico City contact number.

The company vowed to seek ways to resume operations at an indefinite time in the future.