UPDATED (31/12/21) - The 2021 airline bankruptcy list now closed

Picture: Air Namibia

Continuing with our popular annual series of airlines that have ceased operating (check out the 2019 and 2020 editions of the airline bankruptcy list), we list here those airlines that stopped trading in 2021:

Air Namibia (Namibia)

The demise of the flag carrier of this sparsely populated African nation (well known for its grand, picturesque landscapes) has finally materialized. Not exactly a surprise, since it had been on the brink already for quite some time. Air Namibia, which is apparently going to be liquidated, has already announced it is ceasing all operations. It operated 4 A139, 2 A330-200s and 4 Embraers ERJ-135.

Sky Regional Airlines (Canada)

The cull of regional airline franchises continues unabated this 2021. This is a business model that has taken a hit during the pandemic, perhaps even more than mainline operations. This time is Sky Regional, which operated for Air Canada. Its operations and the E175 fleet are going to be folded into the Jazz brand.

CSA Czech Airlines (Czech Republic) (???)

This is rather unclear at the moment. In the last week of February it was announced that CSA, which is one of the oldest airlines in the world, could not face its financial obligations and was laying off the whole workforce. Yet, it seems to be still operating at the time of writing these lines. One to keep an eye on!

UPDATE (as of February 2023): CSA has survived and it is still a member of SkyTeam, but has gone through a massive restructuring, with changes of ownership and keeping a very reduced structure: only one A320 aircraft in the fleet and one scheduled destination: Paris)

Mango Airlines (South Africa)

The low cost subsidiary of South African Airways seems to be following the same way as its parent company, at least temporarily, or so they say. For now, all flights will be stopped, starting 1st of May, until government funding can be secured, because the airline has apparently run out of cash.

Interjet (Mexico)

The Mexican LCC has entered bankruptcy procedures after several months of “temporary” suspension of operations. This does not mean it is never going to fly again, in fact, and writing from a total ignorance of Mexican corporate law, it seems that it may still be possible to reactivate it if new investors recapitalize it. For the time being, adding it to the list.

Ethiopian Mozambique Airlines (Mozambique)

One of the string of (partly owned) subsidiaries of Ethiopian airlines across Africa. This airline operated 2 Q400 turboprops domestically. To learn more about Ethiopian’s pan-African expansion strategy check out this post and if interested in African aviation in general, there is this podcast about airlines in Africa we did with Tendi Mutandagayi

Air Iceland Connect (Iceland)

The domestic subsidiary of Icelandair is to be absorbed by its parent company. So, more of an internal restructuring than anything else, but I think the brand was differentiated enough to merit an entry in this list.

Amaszonas Uruguay

This one had been in the monitoring list for quite a while, since it “suspended” all its flights in January 2021. As of May, flights have not restarted, so I think it is time to add it to the list.

Stobart Air (Ireland)

Just as it has happened to many regional airlines in the US flying as franchisees of big airlines, Air Stobart is ceasing all operations and appointing a liquidator. Stobart Air was operating Aer Lingus regional network with an ATR turboprop fleet. This agreement with Aer Lingus has been terminated. End of the line for an airline that traces back its roots to Aer Arann, an airline set up in the 1970s to connect the Irish mainland to the Aran Islands.

Air Antwerp (Belgium)

What a terrible year for regional airlines everywhere! The latest to give up is this small and very specialized carrier, whose only purpose was to link Antwerp to London City airport, a very short hop across the Channel on its single Fokker 50.

Ellinair (Greece)

The Mouzenidis Group, the tour-operator Ellinair was part of, has suspended all operations an entered into administration. Ellinair specialized in leisure markets, flying mostly between Greece, Russia and Ukraine. Its founder, Boris Mouzenidis, died in March 2021 from covid-19 complications. The group is said to have some €100M of debt.

UPDATE: it looks like the Mouzenidis Group stopped operations as per reports in the Russian media (Russia was the main market where it operated). The website seems to be inoperative and not updated as of February 2022.

Atlantis European Airways (Armenia)

A reader pointed out to me that this Armenian airline had its AOC lapsed in February 2021. There isn’t much info around but it seems that Atlantis European Airways had been inactive for a bit longer than that. As recently as 2019 it was being touted as the operator of new air links between Armenia, Georgia and Russia, but it looks like this didn’t happen (a pandemic and a war happened in the meantime!). Some years ago, Atlantis European Airways had been operating flights to Vienna on behalf of Austrian Airlines.

Fly My Sky (New Zealand)

A reader has alerted me of the bankruptcy of this tiny airline in New Zealand, Fly My Sky. It operated a fleet of 4 Norman-Britten Islanders between Auckland a couple of destinations in the North Island.

Orange2Fly (Greece)

This was a small Greek charter airline with a single A320 in its fleet. Apparently, at its peak Orange2Fly operated several regular routes out of Pristina, Kosovo’s capital. It has been inactive since early 2021.

Great Dane Airlines (Denmark)

A short lived Danish airline, with a rather original name, operating 3 Embraer E-195 aircraft, mostly on charter flights but also on the odd regular route.

Alitalia (really?) (Italy)

I was reluctant to play along with this Alitalia->ITA thing, because while Alitalia, the legal entity, may have technically ceased to exist, the airline is operating and is expected to continue to do so, albeit under a different name (ITA airways) and livery (which turns “azzuro” blue). For good measure, ITA Airways has also successfully bid for the Alitalia brand, so who knows whether it may come back some time later on…

Blue Panorama/Luke Air (Italy)

And we don’t leave Italy just yet, because another carrier from that country has announced it is suspending operations due to financial difficulties. Blue Panorama was recently renamed Luke Air, but the name change has not prevented the struggles of this carrier focused on the leisure market operating a fleet of B737s and A330s.

ITA (Brazil)

This is not the Alitalia successor, but it’s Brazilian namesake (and, tbf, precedes the Alitalia salvage operation). At this point it is not clear what are the causes and wether it is just going to be temporary, as it has been announced, but, fact is, the airline branch of the Itapemirim Group (a large Brazilian bus operator) has stopped all operations. It has plans to reach 40 aircraft within a couple of years, but so far it was operation a fleet of 4 A320s. Since this airline was launched this year, it appears also in the list of new airlines of 2021.