The number of smaller airlines that ended up in bankruptcy proceedings due to jet fuel prices that remain at highs unseen in years continues to grow.
In Spain, low-cost airline Volotea filed for preliminary creditor protection at the Commercial Court of Barcelona on Sept. 29 in an attempt to restructure its debts and the €200 million loan that it owes to Spanish creditors.
Earlier in the month, Latvian national airline and flag carrier AirBaltic also filed for bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Code of New York after local bondholders with more than 70% of its $583 million in debts refused additional loans to keep up its day-to-day operations.
Animawings cancels certain routes after entering insolvency proceedings
The latest low-cost airline to enter insolvency proceedings is Bucharest-based Animawings. The Romanian carrier was launched in 2020 with two Airbus A320 planes and quickly expanded to fly to dozens of destinations in Europe and the Middle East from Henri Coandă International Airport (OTP) in Bucharest.
The aging aircraft started to require extensive maintenance which, coupled with the spike in jet fuel, ended up increasingly weighing on Animawings’ financial situation over the last year.
Related: Another budget airline files for bankruptcy
“It is a difficult but necessary decision to protect what we have built over the past years and, above all, to enable us to continue,” Animawings said in a statement. “The repeated technical problems affecting our fleet have generated a chain reaction across our entire business in a relatively short period of time, against an economic backdrop that has further intensified this pressure.”
While the airline said that its ultimate goal is to “maintain as many scheduled flights as possible”, it has already started making changes to its flying schedule to minimize unprofitable routes. Flights to Frankfurt and Vienna from the smaller Cluj-Napoca International Airport (CLF) were canceled throughout October.
Those who already booked seats on these flights will, according to the airline, be contacted with alternative travel and refund options.
Animawings
Animawings says “priority is to maintain as many scheduled flights as possible”
The airline has previously already suspended its routes to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Tel Aviv amid the security situation in the Middle East.
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“Animawings will continue its activities and flight operations with its current fleet,” the statement says further. “In the immediate period ahead, the company’s priority is to maintain as many scheduled flights as possible and limit the impact on passengers.”
Other airlines that shut down or filed for bankruptcy in 2026:
- Flamingo Air and Aerodiana: The regional airlines with large client bases among tourists to the Bahamas and Peru, respectively, currently have suspended AOCs after fatal accidents in their home countries in July 2026.
- Spirit Airlines: The largest airline shutdown of the year occurred when Spirit Airlines canceled all remaining flights on May 2. Although the airline had filed for Chapter 11 protection twice before, the skyrocketing price of jet fuel dealt the final blow.
- Magnicharters: The Mexican low-cost airline ended up canceling all flights and filing for bankruptcy 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 due to financial problems.
Related: Another airline shuts down after losing license, cancels flights