While the process of launching and keeping a commercial airline operational is rife with submitting documentation, the air operator’s certificate (AOC) is the single most critical license without which an airline is automatically grounded.
Some of the most common reasons for carriers to get their AOCs revoked or suspended is either a financial situation that puts the future sustainability of the airline in question or a failed safety audit.
Some of the airlines that lost AOCs in 2026 include British charter carrier Pen-Avia, Estonia-based SmartLynx Airlines, Austrian airline Mali Air, and Ireland’s Westair Aviation.
Izhavia loses AOC, cancels flights after getting grounded
Launched in 1992 to serve the remote Udmurtia region in Russia, Izhavia operated flights out of the city of Izhevsk almost exclusively to domestic destinations and larger hubs within the country. Since 2022, Russian airlines have been banned from entering the airspace of countries making up to European Union as well as many other nations as part of the sanctions imposed over the invasion of Ukraine.
Amid both an absence of engines and spare parts due to Western sanctions and a customer base with low spending power and a dropped ability to travel to many international destinations, dozens of airlines based in Russia have either filed for or teetered very near bankruptcy since the start of the war.
Related: Authorities shut down 17 travel and air cargo companies in crackdown
The latest reporting on Izhavia’s state shows that Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency Rosaviatsiya revoked the carrier’s AOC this week after repeated safety violations and technical issues brought up by investigators in previous audits failed to be addressed.
Without an active AOC, Izhavia is unable to run or market any flights to customers; this, in turn, means that approximately 46,000 passengers who already booked tickets for travel in the coming months are now left with a canceled flight.
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What else to know about the sad state of Russian aviation, multiple airline bankruptcies in 2026
Operating a fleet of Yakovlev Yak-42 planes and one Sukhoi Superjet 100, Izhavia was one of the few regional airlines that had still been left operating in Russia.
Since the start of the full-scale war and Russian aggression in Ukraine, the state of the country’s civil aviation remains in a lamentable state as lack of Western parts and lowered ability to ensure maintenance standards have dramatically increased the frequency of safety incidents and accidents.
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These airlines filed for bankruptcy in 2026:
- Spirit Airlines: The largest airline shutdown of the year occurred when Spirit Airlines canceled all remaining flights on May 2. Although the airline had filed for Chapter 11 protection twice before, the skyrocketing price of jet fuel dealt the final blow.
- Magnicharters: While not yet fully shut down, the Mexican low-cost airline canceled all flights until May 2026 in a shutdown that left thousands stranded.
- Starflite Aviation: Houston-based Starflite Aviation had its AOC license revoked in March 2026, amid FAA claims that owners falsified pilot training records to bypass safety audits.
- AlpAvia: Slovenian charter airline AlpAvia also shut down in March 2026 over financial problems.
- H-Bird: Charter airline H-Bird was declared bankrupt by a Swedish judge after losing its operating license at the end of 2025.
