UPDATED (31/12/20) - The 2020 airline bankruptcy list now closed

Given the raging popularity of the 2019 list of airline bankruptcies, I have resolved to continue the work into 2020. I also take the opportunity to thank all those that wrote to me with tips and suggestions from all over the world.

Additionally, this year will try to keep track as well, on a different entry, of newly started airlines. If you learn of new airlines being launched, feel free to send them my way!

Nantucket Express (USA)

Not much info about this airline, their website is no longer operative, but the FAA revoked its AOC earlier this January due to it having operated flights with unqualified pilots

Air Italy (Italy)

When Qatar Airways invested in ailing Italian airline Meridiana, it seemed that a new youth was at hand for this airline based that started out of Sardinia and is still partly owned by a society historically linked to the Aga Khan. However, it looks like the ambitious rebranding, renaming and re-fleeting programme was not enough to pull it out of the red. Air Italy was also heavily affected by the grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX, since it had bet on the type to form the backbone of its fleet. It had ordered 20 Boeing 737 MAX, of which 3 had already been delivered when the grounding happened.

Atlasglobal (Turkey)

This airline already made a temporary appearance in the 2019 Airline Bankruptcy list, only to resume flights just before the end of the year. But, no surprises, this February news are that it is ceasing operations for the second (and possibly definitive) time. In addition to its main operation in Turkey, it also had a subsidiary in Ukraine.

Trans States Airlines (USA)

This Missouri-based, regional airline and United Airlines feeder will still be flying for a few more month, but, as reported by The Points Guy, it has already been decided that it will cease operations at the end of this year. 36 of its 50-seater Embraer ERJ-145 regional jets are going to be transferred to another United partner, ExpressJet.

Flybe (UK)

The involvement of Virgin Atlantic and a consortium of investors was not enough to save the largest independent regional airline in Europe, with 63 aircraft. Plans were sketched to rebrand Flybe as Virgin Connect and act as a feeder, but these never came to fruition. The British government came to the rescue, but this was, understandably, contested by other airlines. I guess public pressure to reduce short haul flying (Flybe’s speciality) didn’t help either. The Coronavirus epidemic has been the last straw.

Compass Airlines (USA)

Another US regional feeder, and one owned by the same holding company as Trans States Airlines (mentioned earlier in this list). It was operating a fleet of Embraer E175s for Delta. Although this is one of the first (but likely not the last) to close down amidst the coronavirus epidemic, Compass Airlines had already been downsizing for a few months, following Delta’s announcement in the summer of 2019 that it would terminate its contract with Compass.

Ravn (USA)

Although you may have never heard of it (I must confess, I hadn’t!), Ravn was the only airline servicing multiple isolated destinations all across Alaska, with a mixed fleet of small airplane types (the largest being the DHC-8-100). As pointed out by aviation journalist Seth Miller, who is going to take care of these routes now? Well, it may be Ravn itself that gets back to business if it manages to secure funding for those routes. Will be monitoring the situation and update accordingly!

Germanwings (Germany)

Not sure it belongs into this list, since this this fully-owned subsidiary of Lufthansa can hardly be considered a stand-alone airline and it was going to be folded into Eurowings (another of the group’s units) anyway. What seems clear, though, is that today’s announcement by the German flag carrier marks the end of the road for Germanwings.

South African Airways - RELAUNCHING IN 2021!

A rare instance of a flag carrier going under. The problems of South African Airways (SAA) had been long time in the making, but Covid-19 has been the final straw. A government funded recapitalization of South African Airways had been the focus of political debate for already quite a few months, but it is not to be. South African Airways was one of the largest airlines in Africa. In other circumstances South African Airways’ bankruptcy would have messed up South Africa’s connectivity with the rest of the world, but with virtually no air traffic globally to speak of at the moment, the effect on traffic will not be felt immediately and international airlines serving South Africa will possibly have time to readjust their schedules as soon as things start getting back to normal.

UPDATE (as of 9/8/21): it seems that South African Airways is returning to the fray, following many months of negotiations between different parties involved (the South African Government, trade unions, etc), SAA seems to be ready to make a comeback, although in a reduced form.

NEW UPDATE (23/9/21): South African Airways is flying again, although with only a share of its former fleet.

South African Express

A regional airline in South Africa operating under the umbrella of South African Airways (see the previous entry), although with a degree of operational and managerial independence. South African Express had already been experiencing some serious trouble well before the Coiv-19 epidemic hit and between May and August 2018 it had even had its AOC suspended and, then, reinstated. It is now entering liquidation procedures.

German Airways (Luftfahrtgesellschaft Walter) (Germany)

It operated Bombardier DHC-8-400 and Embraer E-Jets for Lufthansa’s subsidiary Eurowings and, prior to that, for Air Berlin. It has filed for insolvency after the contract with Eurowings was not renewed. The current crisis being particularly harsh with regional and feeder carriers on both sides of the Atlantic!

Miami Air International (USA)

Yet another airline that won’t make it through the pandemic lockdown. Miami Air International was a charter airline based in the city from where it took its name. It had a fleet of 6 B737-800s that it flew for the military, sports teams and, basically, anyone that needed an airlift.

Avianca Perú

A side-effect of the troubles at Avianca’s parent company, that filed for Chapter 11 on this same week. It operated a 5 aircraft all-Airbus fleet.

TAME EP (Ecuador)

This one was also long time in the making, with Covid-19 being the last straw. TAME had been part of the Ecuadorian air force until 2011, when it was spun-off as an independent, commercial entity. It currently operated a couple of Airbuses (1 A319 and 1 A320) and 3 ATR-42s, after it retired its Embraer E190s in December 2019. The company is now entering liquidation procedures.

Flyest (Argentina)

A small airline that operated mainly between Buenos Aires and Montevideo as well as a couple of domestic destinations in Argentina with CRJ200 aircraft. It was jointly owned by a local businessman and Spanish regional carrier Air Nostrum. There is still a chance it may get restructured and fly again, but chances look slim, even more so since the Argentinian economy is again (!) in crisis, so adding to the list.

UPDATE (9/8/20): it looks like Flyest may actually be turned around, since it has re-negotiated most of its debt and is now seeking investors

LATAM Argentina

The Argentinian subsidiary of the LATAM group is giving up. The domestic operation will be closed down, while the international services will be partly taken over by the group’s units in Brazil, Chile and Peru (that is, as soon as the travel situation is normalized)

Air Georgian (Canada)

Despite its name, Air Georgian was neither from the country or state of the same name. This was a small Canadian airline, based in Toronto, that operated Beechcraft 1900D and CRJ100s, for some time in partnership with Air Canada.

LEVEL Europe (Austria)

This is the Vienna-based arm of IAG. Another IAG subsidiary also called LEVEL and operating long haul lcc-hybrid services out of Barcelona and Paris continues to be active. IAG Europe had an Airbus narrow body fleet with bases in Vienna and Amsterdam. It was an attempt to gain a foothold in those markets taking advantage of the demise of Austrian carrier Niki, but it was never really clear why this task could not have been fulfilled by Vueling (also part of the IAG group) or what synergies did this brand have with the long haul operation.

SunExpress Deutschland (Germany)

This is the German branch of SunExpress, a joint venture between Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines that caters to the leisure market, mainly between Germany and sun and sea destinations in the Mediterranean and other holiday spots. It is important to highlight that the, larger, Turkish branch of SunExpress (operating 40 aircraft) is a separate entity and continues to operate.

One Airlines (Chile)

This is a small Chilean carrier that operated two Boeing 737-300s, mainly in charter flights and covering the mining industry needs. The combination of travel restrictions and competition from low cost airlines such as JetSmart, has been too much and the airline has decided to close down.

NokScoot (Thailand)

Shareholders (51% Nok Air - 49% Scoot) decided to liquidate this joint venture in view of the dire market situation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. NokScoot was a medium and long haul low cost carrier that operated mainly between Thailand and several Asian markets (China, Japan, India…) with a fleet of 7 B777s.

Tigerair Australia

As part of the restructuring of Virgin Australia, its parent company, by its new investors, Bain Capital, the Tigerair Australia operation is going to he shut down. Tigerair Australia operated a mainly domestic network.

Leeward Islands Air Transport - LIAT (Antigua)

The financial issues of LIAT had been in the media for quite some time. LIAT was an inter-island airline operating ATR turboprop aircraft throughout the Caribbean. It seems that its administrators have finally thrown in the towel. The Antiguan government has said that a new airline may be created to fill the gap left by LIAT.

Shoreline Aviation (USA)

A reader has brought this one to my attention. Shoreline Aviation operated 10 Cessna Caravan Seaplanes in the Northeastern US. Seaplanes are always quite interesting, you can check out this piece I wrote about seaplane operations on The Points Guy.

Jet Time (Denmark)

Although this Danish charter operator has declared bankruptcy, it looks like Jet Time’s owners will launch a new airline with an almost identical name soon.

Go2Sky (Slovakia)

This name may mean little to most, since this Go2Sky, based in Bratislava, was mainly operating for other carriers under ACMI contracts. It had a fleet of 4 Boeing 737-800s.

Expressjet (USA) - RELAUNCHED IN 2021 AS AHA!

Yet another US regional that bites the dust. The Expressjet may not sound familiar to many, because it operated under the United brand. It’s fleet consisted entirely of Embraer ERJ-145 aircraft, all 84 of them.

UPDATE: ExpressJet is relaunching as an independent airline in Q4 2021, under the brand Aha!

Air Asia Japan

This is not the first time that an airline operating under the Air Asia Japan brand shuts down. The first attempt of the Air Asia group to set up base in Japan ended up with part of the operations being transferred to its venture partner, ANA, in 2013 and rebranded as Vanilla Air, and subsequently merged into the Peach low cost subsidiary. This second incarnation of Air Asia Japan has operated since 2017, but the demand shock caused by the covid pandemic has been too much to bear. Air Asia Japan had three A320 aircraft in its fleet.

Cathay Dragon (Hong Kong)

Airlines that operated as subsidiaries of major groups have been among the most affected by closures during this 2020 unprecedented crisis. You just need to scroll up this list of 2020 airline bankruptcies to find a few examples (Avianca Perú, Germanwings, South African Express, Air Asia Japan, etc.). This time is the turn of Cathay Dragon (once known as Dragonair), a subsidiary of Cathay Pacific that operated throughout Asia. It operated a fleet of 35 Airbus aircraft, 18 of them A330 wide-bodies.

Montenegro Airlines (Republic of Montenegro)

Hardly a surprise, since it had been in a financially fragile situation for quite a long time. I guess it’s hard to be the national airline of such a small country, even if it’s a popular tourist destination. Montenegro Airlines operated 3 Embraer E195s and, interestingly, a Fokker 100! I guess it won’t be hard for European low cost carriers to fill the void once borders open again and tourists start to flock back to the Adriatic shores.

Palestinian Airlines

I was hesitant about including this one, since this airline seems to have had very sketchy operations in the last few years, with little information available. It seems that its fleet of two Fokker F50s was subleased to another carrier in Africa. It seems that the Palestinian Authority finally decided to pull the plug on its troubled airline.