The first two months of 2026 have already brought with them a number of airline shutdowns and bankruptcies.
Four days into the new year, Royal Air Philippines abruptly revealed that it was suspending all commercial flights, disrupting travel for approximately 4,000 passengers with tickets booked up until March 2026.
In India, charter carrier Dove Airlines entered voluntary liquidation went into voluntary liquidation two days later after multiple failed attempts to find an investor.
At the end of the month, British green investor Dale Vince pulled the plug on his earlier plans to launch the country’s first zero-emission airline by purchasing old Twin Otter and ATR 72 aircraft and converting the kerosene engines to hydroelectric ones.
Although Vince was able to start the project with his own funds, the complexity and expense around the idea quickly hit a wall with finding new investors. In January 2026, Ecojet entered involuntary liquidation.
Legend Airlines retires two A340 planes, goes dormant following scandal
The latest airline to officially shut down, as first reported by ch-aviation, is Romanian carrier Legend Airlines.
The Bucharest-based airline has a particularly challenging reputation. In December 2023, authorities at Châlons Vatry Airport (XCR) in Eastern France seized an Airbus A320 plane stopped for refueling on the way to Nicaragua, CNN reported, on suspicion that some of the 303 Indian citizens aboard were being moved for purposes of human trafficking.
Related: Holiday airline declares bankruptcy, all flights canceled
A lawyer for Legend Airlines argued that the route was operated by a charter airline and that the carrier itself had not advertised or sold any tickets for the flight.
Legend Airlines continued to operate, and in November 2024, it secured U.S. Department of Transportation permission to launch charter flights between Romania and the U.S., according to ch-aviation. (Legend Airlines was also the name of an unrelated U.S. charter airline based out of Dallas that shut down in 2001.)
Those flights never officially took off, and as ch-aviation is now reporting, the airline has officially gone dormant after retiring two of its A340 planes. At its peak, Legend Airlines had a fleet of four A340-300 planes, two of which the airline leased to Italian low-cost carrier Neos Air, per Aviation Direct.
Legend Airlines was founded out of Romania in 2020.
Legend Airlines
What is Romanian charter carrier Legend Airlines?
As of February 2026, the Legend Airlines website remains up and advertises flights “by aviation experts ready to provide tailor made services to meet our client’s most particular needs.”
As a result, aviation commentators, including One Mile at a Time, have frequently referred to the carrier as the world’s “shadiest airline.”
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 flights in September 2025.
The website does not mention any destinations Legend Airlines serves, but merely describes itself as running different types of non-commercial flights.
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“Legend Airlines is an EU registered airline, established in 2020 and based in Bucharest, Romania,” the website also states.
“Our fleet consists of Airbus A340 family aircraft, the only ones available in Romania and ready for charter and ACMI flights.”
Related: Another regional airline files for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and liquidates
