Airlines that stopped flying in 2026 (updated as of 2/5/26)
Picture: Spirit Airlines
This year it has taken a while to get this list started, but airline bankruptcies are, for good or for bad, part and parcel of this industry. Although the first few months of 2026 has been somehow quiet on this front, the fact is that the global geopolitical environment is straining the industry to levels that few could have anticipated just a few months prior.
With fuel prices high and large areas of the globe, including some major air hubs, experiencing turmoil, wouldn’t be surprised if this list keeps adding names in the second half of the year!
One way or another, we will persist in our attempt to keep tracking the airlines that stop trading. Please, remember, as usual, that this is a manually compiled list which is made possible, in no small part, thanks to the tips and suggestions I get on a regular basis from many of you. Also, please remember that, despite my best efforts, it may not exhaustive and I may have missed some names. Feel free to reach out if this is the case!
You can also check the lists of airlines which stopped flying in 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022…and previous years…
So, here are the airlines that have ceased operations this 2026 that I am aware of:
Air Antilles (France)
This regional airline operating in the French Antilles had already been grounded in December 2025, when the regulator identified a number of operational and security deficiencies. In April 2026, a court in the French island of Guadaloupe ordered its dissolution.
Maxime ✈ from Le François , Martinique, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Ascend Airways UK
An ACMI airline part of the Avia Solutions Group. It operated a fleet of 7 B737s. Its closure was announced in April 2026, amidst a tough trading environment in this segment of the market in 2026.
Spirit Airlines (US)
This is one of the largest airlines to stop flying in the US for quite some time. The demise’s of this American ultra-low-cost airline doesn’t come as a surprise, since it had long been in a rather fragile financial situation. In the last few days it had even been suggested that the Trump administration would bail it out, but this finally hasn’t happened and Spirit Airlines has ceased operations.
In case you were wondering how it was like to fly Spirit Airlines, here is a flight review I wrote after taking one of the longest flights in its network, from Newark to Oakland.
