Another airline loses license, all flights off

Issued by the aviation regulatory authority in the country where the carrier is based, the Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) is the primary certificate that an airline needs to start selling flights to customers — it is granted once the airline proves that it has the necessary aircraft, staff, safety systems, and financial resources to operate over the long term.

A change in the latter, or a lack of liquid cash necessary to stay operational, is the most common reason for an airline to have its AOC revoked.

Airlines that saw this happen over the last six months include Estonia-based SmartLynx Airlines, Austria’s Mali Air, and Swedish charter carrier H-Bird. Over in the U.S., Houston-based charter carrier Starflite Aviation in the U.S. also lost its AOC after the FAA alleged that the airline falsified pilot training records in order to bypass various safety checks.

Malta branch of Hi Fly loses operating license

The latest airline to lose its AOC is, as first reported by Swiss outlet ch-aviation, Malta-based LEAF. Short for Lease and Fly, the subsidiary of the Portuguese wet lease airline Hi Fly received the certificate in May 2025.

The parent company gave the new venture an Airbus A340-300 with the goal of launching charter flights to the Mediterranean island nation from nearby European capitals. A wet lease allows a company with a larger fleet to provide the airline, crew and insurance to an airline without them.

Related: Airline shuts down in bankruptcy, runs last flight

“Next-generation airline delivering innovative, sustainable Wet Lease and Charter solutions,” LEAF writes on its LinkedIn page where it also states that it has somewhere between 51 and 200 employees. “With a global reach and an all-Airbus widebody fleet, we empower partners with flexible, efficient air transport backed by top-tier safety, reliability, and environmental responsibility.”

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Hi Fly is headquartered in Lisbon and is itself a wet lease airline providing other airlines with aircraft in different parts of the world. While few details about the reasons for LEAF’s lost AOC are currently made public, the airline struggled to get off the ground and run flights.

LEAF is a subsidiary of Portugal’s Hi Fly based in Malta.

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What happens after an airline files for bankruptcy, loses its AOC

As a result, any flights that LEAF may have been scheduled to fly are now off. In March 2026,  Slovenian charter airline AlpAvia also lost its AOC over financial problems as it struggled with the business model of selling wealthy customers charter flights to cities such as Vienna, Valencia and Lyon.

These airlines filed for bankruptcy in 2025:Spirit Airlines (Spirit Aviation Holdings, Inc.): Filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy 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 other operations such as New Pacific.Corporate Air: Filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy (restructuring) in September 2025 as part of a planned sale, according to Bondoro.Play Airlines: The Reykjavik-based airline shut down operations and entered involuntary bankruptcy in September 2025.Braathens Airlines:The airline was forced to file for bankruptcy and canceled all of its flights in September 2025.

New York-based charter airline Tailwind Air also tried to run downtown-to-downtown routes between New York, Boston, and several other East Coast cities but ultimately ended up filing for Chapter 11 protection in January 2026 when it failed to bring in enough passengers to pay for them.

Related: Travel agency shuts down after losing license, all trips canceled

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