Airlines that filed for bankruptcy or shut down in the first three weeks of 2026 include charter and cargo airline Royal Air Philippines, Indian charter carrier Dove Airlines, Swedish airline H-Bird, and U.S. charter carrier Tailwind Air.
Similar problems of not being able to bring in the necessary traffic on highly competitive routes plagued all four, despite their markets being in very different parts of the world. In the case of Tailwind Air, it filed for Chapter 11 protection after losing its AOC license due to lack of funds in January 2025 and struggled to find an investor to help turn its situation around.
In December 2025, French holiday airline Air Antilles also canceled all of its flights after French aviation…