Airline cancels only flight, refunds offered | Official Website of Louis Velazquez, entrepreneur, finance guy and tech innovator

Although bankruptcy is often the beginning of the end for many airlines, compared to businesses in less expense-heavy industries, some occasionally manage to emerge from insolvency with a new funding source.

After announcing that it had emerged from Chapter 11 proceedings in March 2025, low-cost airline Spirit Airlines filed for bankruptcy protection. It did so for a second time six months later; despite various cost-cutting measures, the carrier saw a net loss expected to approach $1 billion by the time 2025 numbers are released.

Happier tales are ones of larger flag carriers such as Aeromexico, which eventually emerged from Chapter 11 proceedings filed during the Covid pandemic era, with new investors and liquidity. Other carriers that exited bankruptcy include Chilean airline LATAM and American Airlines back in 2013.

Niceair once again calls off planned flight, travelers receive email on cancellations

Startup Icelandic airline Niceair, launched out of Reykjavik in 2022, ended up shutting down just a year later after the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union disrupted the license that allowed it to fly to northern Iceland from London-Stansted Airport (STD).

Planned flights to Manchester in the U.K. and Düsseldorf in Germany were then subsequently cut off, and Niceair filed for bankruptcy in May 2023.

In the ensuing three years, Niceair has planned a comeback by applying for permissions to launch additional flights. The flight between Copenhagen International (CPH) and Akureyri International Airport (AEY) in northern Iceland had already opened up to bookings.

However, on Jan. 22, Iceland Monitor reported, travelers who paid for the flight received an email informing them that it was canceled and that they would receive refunds, as well as an additional 25% credit they could apply to a future booking.

In interviews with local outlet Iceland Review, Niceair Chief Executive Martin Michael confirmed that the flight has been postponed indefinitely, since it was not financially viable. The flight had been scheduled to run on Feb. 19 and return to Copenhagen on Feb. 22.

Niceair was launched to connect northern Iceland with Scandinavian cities.

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“This flight would have been operational or commercial suicide”: Niceair

“I use the word disaster,” Michael said in an interview with mbl.is, cited by Iceland Monitor. “Simply put, operating this flight would have been operational or commercial suicide.”

While still expressing hope that the flight will launch at a later date, he gave a particularly gloomy interview, in which he lamented not being able to fill seats and struggling to plan ahead when bookings were not coming in.

Travel news:

While only home to 20,000 people, Akuyeri is often referred to as Iceland’s “capital of the north” and is a gateway to natural wonders including the Lake Myvatn and Goðafoss waterfall. From Reykjavik, it is far enough away to potentially warrant a flight — 387 kilometers (about 240 miles), or a four-hour and 44-minute drive.

“We are not Lufthansa, which can more or less just advertise or fill seats within minutes or a few days,” Michael said to the news outlet. “We simply would not have been able to fill the aircraft, so the decision was made to cancel early enough to allow customers to make other arrangements, rather than notifying them of a cancellation with only two or two and a half weeks’ notice.”