Key Factors
- A number of small airways filed for chapter in 2025.
- Havana Air blamed its latest Chapter 11 chapter on the Trump administration’s latest journey ban.
- Havana Air’s common income dropped by $700,000 in latest months.
With only a week left in 2025, the string of small and mid-sized airways having to file for chapter is just not but over.
All through the autumn, Icelandic airline Play and Swedish airline Braathens Aviation each shut down operations in chapter inside a couple of weeks of one another whereas flag provider Air Albania has additionally not run any flights because the begin of December after principal investor Turkish Airways introduced plans to promote its 49% stake.
Over in the UK, regional carriers Japanese Airways of the East Midlands and Guernsey-based Blue Islands each additionally fell in abrupt insolvencies that left hundreds of vacationers stranded and rivals having to supply rescue fares.
Havana Air newest U.S. airline to file for Chapter 11 chapter
Flying out of Miami Worldwide Airport since 2007, Havana Air has develop into the newest airline within the U.S. to file for Chapter 11 safety. As damaged by Law360, the airline registered as Viajehoy LLC informed the chapter decide within the the U.S. Chapter Court docket for the District of Delaware that its monetary struggles got here after the Trump administration enacted a journey ban on residents of Cuba together with 18 different nations earlier this 12 months (Trump ended up increasing it to 19 extra nations at first of December).
Whereas not included within the checklist of nations whose residents are fully banned from getting into the U.S., Cuban residents now face restrictions on making use of for all scholar and enterprise visas. In keeping with Havana Air, Cuban residents and members of the diaspora touring between the nation and Miami made up the most important bulk of its clients on its routes to 3 airports in Havana, Holguín and Santa Clara.
Some passengers additionally selected to boycott Havana Air over the truth that its accomplice International Crossing Airways continued to satisfy a governmental contract to run chartered deportation flights for U.S. Customs and Immigrations Enforcement (ICE) as a part of Trump’s present crackdown on undocumented migrants.
Havana Air had been operating 30 flights every week to 3 airports in Cuba.
“Until recently, the business had been very successful”: Havana Air
“Until recently, the business had been very successful, chartering about 30 flights a week and generating revenues of $3 million to $4 million a month,” Kevin G. Collins, the Bayard PA lawyer representing Havana Air within the chapter, stated to the courtroom. “However, recent events have had a detrimental impact on the company, including its business and its revenues.”
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 similar 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: Pressured to file for chapter and canceled all flights in September 2025.
Havana Air additionally reported a median income drop of $700,000 per thirty days in addition to complete money owed of $5.6 million because it introduced down the whole variety of flights it runs per week to simply 4. This debt contains unpaid taxes, cash owed to distributors and loans and curiosity to varied collectors.
The airline was first launched at a time when then-President Barack Obama was shifting towards opening up relations between the U.S. and Cuba and airways had been anticipating a boon in journey to the nation.
These efforts, which former President Joseph Biden additionally tried to cement within the final weeks of his time within the White Home, had been additionally subsequently struck down by the Trump administration.
In regards to the creator
Veronika Bondarenko is an aviation author for TheStreet and senior editor at TravelHost. A lifelong aisle seat elector who went from aggressively refreshing aggregators to attain the most cost effective potential flights to in search of methods to construct standing with out spending like a celeb, she covers the numerous tales within the airline world with each the crucial eye of a traveler and delight of somebody who’s at her happiest when flying to a brand new vacation spot.
