With the current cost of jet fuel adding what often ends up being the final blow to many smaller regional airlines, the first airline collapses are already being seen in different parts of the world this spring.
At the start of April, Mexican holiday airline Magnicharters canceled all flights for two weeks in a situation that left hundreds of travelers stranded at popular vacation destinations.
German giant Lufthansa shut down its regional carrier CityLine a year earlier than initially announced “in view of significantly increased kerosene prices, which have more than doubled compared to the period before the Iran war.”
British charter airline Pen-Avia also lost its operating license although its string of financial problems date back many months before the start of the war.
Ascend Airways names “challenging outlook” as reason for shutting down, returning planes
The latest carrier to voluntarily surrender the Air Operator’s License (AOC) that airlines need to operate is British wet-lease operator Ascend Airways. Founded in 2023 and part of the wider Dublin-based Avia Solutions Group, Ascend Airways secured its AOC and a fleet of six Boeing 737 Max planes that it would rent out to smaller airlines without the aircraft or crew to run certain routes.
Larger airlines for which Ascend Airways ran route over the last two years include Tui Airways, Oman Air and Air Sierra Leone.
Related: Another airline shuts down for summer, cancels all flights
While Ascend Airways’ owners hope to eventually give the attempt at restarting the airline another go, they cited the “challenging outlook” going into the summer as the reason for surrendering its AOC.
In its customer statement, the airline also cited giving up the AOC as “strategic” given that an AOC is expensive to keep active when the airline is not bringing in money. Along with the cost of jet fuel, the security situation in the Middle East also prevented Ascend from running its routes to countries like Oman.
As a result of the surrended license, it will not be able to run any flights at all going forward.
“External pressures have compounded the structural challenges”: Ascend Airways
“These external pressures have compounded the structural challenges of operating a UK AOC within the European market,” Ascend Airways said in a statement. “A lack of reciprocal wet-leasing rights for UK carriers, combined with a higher cost base, have made the UK certificate a more expensive and less agile option compared to EU AOCs.”
These airlines shut down in 2026:
- Magnicharters: While not yet fully shut down, Mexican low-cost airline Magnicharters canceled all flights until May 2026 in a shutdown that left thousands stranded.
- Starflite Aviation: Houston-based Starflite Aviation had its AOC license revoked in March 2026, amid FAA claims that owners falsified pilot training records to bypass safety audits.
- AlpAvia: Slovenian charter airline AlpAvia also shut down in March 2026 over financial problems.
- H-Bird: Charter airline H-Bird was declared bankrupt by a Swedish judge after losing its operating license at the end of 2025.
While the carrier said that it has run its last flight from Muscat in a way that would “minimize disruption to customers, consumers and aircraft lessor,” some employees said that they received emails saying that the airline was going into liquidation a day before the public announcement was made.
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“It has gone bust today, we got the news this afternoon,” an employee granted anonymity said to British tablet outlet The Sun on April 27. “We’ve all been given the letters that it’s all going into liquidation.”
The employee further said that while Ascend tried to return some of its Boeing aircraft to recoup its losses, it ended up having to shut down when partners did not want to accept the planes.