The primary two months of 2026 have already introduced with them various airline shutdowns and bankruptcies.
4 days into the brand new 12 months, Royal Air Philippines abruptly revealed that it was suspending all business flights, disrupting journey for roughly 4,000 passengers with tickets booked up till March 2026.
In India, constitution service Dove Airways entered voluntary liquidation went into voluntary liquidation two days later after a number of failed makes an attempt to search out an investor.
On the finish of the month, British inexperienced investor Dale Vince pulled the plug on his earlier plans to launch the nation’s first zero-emission airline by buying previous Twin Otter and ATR 72 plane and changing the kerosene engines to hydroelectric ones.
Though Vince was capable of begin the undertaking together with his personal funds, the complexity and expense across the thought shortly hit a wall with discovering new traders. In January 2026, Ecojet entered involuntary liquidation.
Legend Airways retires two A340 planes, goes dormant following scandal
The newest airline to formally shut down, as first reported by ch-aviation, is Romanian service Legend Airways.
The Bucharest-based airline has a very difficult repute. In December 2023, authorities at Châlons Vatry Airport (XCR) in Japanese France seized an Airbus A320 aircraft stopped for refueling on the way in which to Nicaragua, CNN reported, on suspicion that a few of the 303 Indian residents aboard had been being moved for functions of human trafficking.
Associated: Vacation airline declares chapter, all flights canceled
A lawyer for Legend Airways argued that the route was operated by a constitution airline and that the service itself had not marketed or bought any tickets for the flight.
Legend Airways continued to function, and in November 2024, it secured U.S. Division of Transportation permission to launch constitution flights between Romania and the U.S., in line with ch-aviation. (Legend Airways was additionally the title of an unrelated U.S. constitution airline based mostly out of Dallas that shut down in 2001.)
These flights by no means formally took off, and as ch-aviation is now reporting, the airline has formally gone dormant after retiring two of its A340 planes. At its peak, Legend Airways had a fleet of 4 A340-300 planes, two of which the airline leased to Italian low-cost service Neos Air, per Aviation Direct.
Legend Airways was based out of Romania in 2020.
Legend Airways
What’s Romanian constitution service Legend Airways?
As of February 2026, the Legend Airways web site stays up and advertises flights “by aviation experts ready to provide tailor made services to meet our client’s most particular needs.”
Consequently, aviation commentators, together with One Mile at a Time, have often referred to the service because the world’s “shadiest airline.”
These airways filed for chapter in 2025:
- Spirit Airways (Spirit Aviation Holdings, Inc.): Filed for Chapter 11 chapter for the second time on August 29, 2025.
- Ravn Alaska: Ceased operations in August 2025 after earlier Chapter 11 proceedings; shut down flights and folded into different operations corresponding to New Pacific.
- Company Air: Filed for Chapter 11 chapter (restructuring) in September 2025 as a part of a deliberate sale, in line with Bondoro.
- Play Airways: The Reykjavik-based airline shut down operations and entered involuntary chapter in September 2025.
- Braathens Airways:The airline was compelled to file for chapter and canceled all flights in September 2025.
The web site doesn’t point out any locations Legend Airways serves, however merely describes itself as working various kinds of non-commercial flights.
Journey information:
- Airline to launch uncommon new flight to Cayman Islands from the U.S.
- United Airways CEO provides stark warning on Olympic Video games
- Surprising nation is most luxurious journey vacation spot for 2026
- US authorities points sudden warning on Switzerland journey
“Legend Airlines is an EU registered airline, established in 2020 and based in Bucharest, Romania,” the web site additionally states.
“Our fleet consists of Airbus A340 family aircraft, the only ones available in Romania and ready for charter and ACMI flights.”
Associated: One other regional airline recordsdata for Chapter 7 chapter and liquidates
