Magnicharters, a Mexican budget airline that was first established in the 1990s by the Bojórquez family as an extension of their travel agency, was once a well-known name in the country’s low-cost carrier space.
The airline flew to a peak 27 destinations across Mexico, the U.S., Cuba, and the Dominican Republic. But amid the spike in jet fuel crisis that came as the result of the U.S. strike on Iran, the carrier stopped flying for a period that was initially supposed to last two weeks in April 2026.
As weeks passed without a resumption of service, Magnicharters voluntarily filed for bankruptcy protection in the First District Court for Bankruptcy Proceedings in Mexico City at the end of May. It had its air operator’s certificate (AOC) revoked by Mexican regulators in June and, on Nov. 4, Justice Tessy del Rocío Covarrubias officially declared the airline bankrupt under Mexican insolvency law.
Read more: Air Transat exits an entire market
Magnicharters to start shutting down, liquidating after judge declares it bankrupt
“The bankruptcy stage is declared open, at the request of the traders in those terms,” Covarrubias wrote in the ruling in translation from Spanish.
The carrier’s total liabilities have been listed as sitting at over 800 million Mexican pesos, or just under $43 million USD. The next steps are for the court to propose a trustee who will oversee the winding-down process and liquidate assets that include a fleet of three Boeing 737-300 planes.
More Travel News:
- Airline to launch unusual new flight to Cayman Islands from the U.S.
- There is a very cool Irish version of swimming pigs in The Bahamas
- Low-cost airline launches easier way to get to Sri Lanka
This puts a permanent end to an airline with a flying history of more than three decades and any flights that it may have been hoping to restart.
The airline’s financial collapse began in December 2025 when the airline missed several salary payments to its air and ground crew of roughly 500 workers. The spike in jet fuel crisis deepened a spiraling debt load accumulated over many years prior.
What went wrong with Magnicharters, a Mexican low-cost airline flying for 30 years
An inspection by Mexico’s Federal Civil Aviation Agency in January 2026 also identified “noncompliance with aviation regulations” that led to the revoked AOC. Magnicharters has not released a public statement on its collapse.
“Until the appointment of the specialist who will serve as trustee is made, the businesses, their administrators, managers and employees shall bear the obligations the law assigns to depositaries,” the ruling reads further.
Airlines that filed for bankruptcy protection 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 to its operations.
- Magnicharters: In a shutdown that was initially supposed to be temporary, the Mexican low-cost airline ended up filing for bankruptcy at the end of May.
- 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.
Related: Another low-cost airline in bankruptcy, cancels all flights
