Despite many headwinds, 2022 has been one of the lightest years for airlines that have gone out of business. Officially canceled airlines are only 19 this year, according to official data from ch-aviation. A look back at the airlines that went bankrupt in 2022.
Bankrupt European airlines
Ten carriers officially ended service in 2022, only two of which were scheduled commercial airlines. These were Norwegian UK and orange2fly.
Norwegian Airlines’ woes began before COVID was even a thing. As the pandemic gripped the world, the airline’s crisis deepened, entering bankruptcy protection at the end of 2020. It emerged from the crisis as a leaner and more efficient regional carrier , suspending all plans for international operations and putting an end to its operation in the United Kingdom. Norwegian UK was home to 24 Boeing 787-9s and officially closed when the airline left bankruptcy protection in May this year.
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | single flight
A lesser known failure was the orange 2fly Greek carrier. Founded in 2015, it has only ever flown four A320-200s, operating from Athens and later from a base in Pristina. It was filed for bankruptcy in September 2021 and officially closed in January this year.
Of the remaining 19, three were passenger charter airlines, including JOTA Aviation, Kamchatka Airlines and Royal Flight. JOTA was a British charter airline founded in 2009 And specializing in the passenger and freight needs of the motorsports industry. He flew seven aircraft, including the BAe 146, ARJ100 and ARJ85. It ceased operations in April 2022 and was liquidated in May, citing the negative effects of the pandemic on its business.
Photo: Jota Aviation
The other two airlines are Russian carriers. Kamchatka Airlines was a relatively new airline based at Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky Airport and planned to operate charter services with turboprop and narrow-body aircraft. However, sanctions on Russian aviation meant it was impossible to start services, and it closed earlier this year. Royal Flight traces its history back to 1992 when it flew as Abakan-Avia and had a fleet of 26 aircraft, including Ilyushin and Boeing models. It ceased operations in May this year.
Rounding out the list, Air Halland, a division of Air Leap; Blu Express, a subsidiary of Blue Panorama; German virtual carrier Green Airlines; Arean Aviation, a UK-based private charter airline; and cargo carrier Star Air, which was merged into Maersk Air Cargo.
North American closures
According to ch-aviation, only five airlines are listed as ending operations in North America in 2022. The most notable of these is ExpressJet Airlines, formerly Continental Express, and a major regional carrier for the United States. He flew under the American Eagle, Delta Connection and United Express brands. However, one by one these contracts disappeared, with its last main partner United Airlines withdrawing in September 2020.
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Unwilling to give up, ExpressJet restarted commercial operations in 2021 on behalf of its new aha! Called “Air-Hotel-Adventure,” the brand’s idea was to bundle deals on Reno hotels with its airfares, connecting West Coast cities on an all-in-one basis. Although it was launched to much applause, the carrier was unable to make it work and filed for bankruptcy in August (do aha! number two of our North American closures). At its peak, ExpressJet operated more than 400 regional aircraft, including ATRs, CRJs, DHCs and Embraers. At the time of liquidation, it had only five ERJ145s in service.
Photo: Idaho Falls Airport.
Two other carriers – Tanana Air Service and Shannon’s Air Taxi – merged with Grant Aviation. Tanana has been around since the 1960s, originally flying as Harold’s Air Service and later Friendship Air Alaska. Along with Shannon’s Air Taxi, both companies were acquired by Grant Aviation in January of this year, with the company noting that this was good news for the Alaska region. In a statement, the airline said:
“With this merger, Bristol Bay customers can expect the familiar service of Tanana Air Service and Shannon’s Air Taxi, now backed by Grant’s reliability, affordable flights and commitment to customer service. Grant plans to continuing service on previous Tanana and Shannon routes, connecting residents and visitors with our network of destinations across Alaska.”
Photo: Grant Aviation
Rounding out the North American airlines no longer with us is Ross Aviation, a private/business charter carrier based in Albuquerque. Beginning life in 1941 as a Louisiana plane, he built a business by flying US government nuclear scientists. It was merged with Atlantic Aviation, which also saw Atlantic gain three new TAC Air fixed-base operations in Omaha, Raleigh-Durham and Hartford.
African airline withdraws
Africa has seen the end of three scheduled carriers – Eswatini Airlink, Med-View Airline in Nigeria and Chadia Airlines. Eswatini Airlink had two aircraft in its fleet – a Fokker 100 and a Fokker F28. It was the nation’s flag carrier, having been established in 1999 as Swaziland Airlink. Later he had no aircraft of his own, but flights were operated by Airlink using regional Embraer jets. It ceased operations on June 1 and is expected to be replaced by the new Eswatini Air.
Photo: via Jon Howell, CEO of AviaDev
Med-View started life as a Hajj specialist in 2004 but began operating domestic scheduled services in 2012. It struggled financially for many years, apparently struggling with huge debts since around 2017 Over the years, he flew four 737-400s, a 767-300 and a 777-200ER, but when he lost his air operator certificate in November 2002 and stopped flying altogether, he only had one 737-400 to its name.
Chadia Airlines was Chad’s sole flag carrier, and went into liquidation in August this year after three years of loss-making operations. Although it is backed by African heavyweight Ethiopian Airlines, it could not survive the financial impacts of the pandemic. It had only two Dash 8 turboprops and had only been in service since 2018.
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Photo: Chadia Airlines
Asian airlines closed
Only one airline is listed by ch-aviation as having ceased operations in 2022 in the Asian region, which is quite surprising considering the long travel restrictions that have hampered the recovery of airlines in this region. Regent Airways was a Bangladeshi airline founded in 2010 with two Boeing 737-700s. It has flown within the country as well as to points in India, Malaysia, Nepal, Oman, Qatar, Singapore, Thailand, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
During its operational life, the airline flew the two 737-700s alongside four 737-800s, a DHC-6-400 and a pair of DHC-8-300s. At the start of 2022, there was only one 737-800 still operational. She had intended to turn the airline around in 2020 after several turbulent years, but with the onset of the pandemic making things very difficult, she officially ended operations this year.
what about the rest of the world?
Surprisingly, no airline from South America or Oceania is listed as having ceased operations this year. That doesn’t mean more won’t come, as several notable airlines have ceased flying in 2022, but haven’t officially gone out of business.
Comair is perhaps the best known of them, as well as its subsidiary Kulula. Although it has ceased flying with no realistic hope of rescue, it is not yet officially closed – although we can probably expect it to be on next year’s list. South Africa’s SA Express has not flown since 2020but awaits its final liquidation and official closure.
Photo: Lukas Souza | single flight
in South America, Brazilian Itapemirim quit flying after just six months, because the country’s regulatory body revoked his flight license. Interjet, although not having flown since 2020, went bankrupt in August 2022.
in Europe, bankruptcy was declared by Honor Air in April this year, but remains “in business” in the official sense. EGO Airways in Italy had to return its fleet after disputes over the leasing contract, and had its operating license suspended in January this year. And Romanian airline Blue Air is in big troublebut has renewed hopes of stimulus as the Romanian government looks set to take a stake.
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