National airlines cancel flights, ground passengers, don’t go bankrupt

With the economy still in recession, many smaller and in some cases flag carrier airlines could face a final blow in the second half of 2025.

In September 2025, Malmö-based Brathans Aviation filed for bankruptcy in a Swedish court citing “financial challenges” and a “lack of liquidity” needed to continue operations. Reykjavik-based low-cost airline Play Airlines canceled all of its flights in an abrupt end to several attempts to turn around its finances just a few weeks ago.

Tirana-based Air Albania, the national carrier for the Balkan country of Albania, has not operated any flights since early December after main investor Turkish Airlines announced plans to sell its stake, and local residents are waiting to see if it will be able to restart or go into liquidation.

On the African continent, the national carrier for the Republic of Congo is also currently in limbo, as reports of locals flying with the airline came to the airport and no staff were found at the check-in counters, Cameroon’s local outlet Business reported.

Launched in 2011 from Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Congo Airlines had a fleet of Boeing 737-700s that it used to operate flights within the Central African country and to neighbors such as Gabon and Cameroon. The airline is often referred to as the short form of ECAir.

Related: 100-year-old travel company leaving country, operations down

Passengers set to take flight EJ211 from Brazzaville to Yaounde in Cameroon on December 19 arrived at the airport to find it cancelled.

They said they received no prior notice but instead discovered it when the flight did not appear on any departure board, and the ECAir check-in counters were closed, with no staff present.

“The airline did not provide any information,” the Brazzaville travel agency announced to its customers, Business in Cameroon reported. A source with the airline said that the problem arose due to technical reasons of not being able to operate the aircraft.

Due to the lack of necessary aircraft for flight operations, the airlines started flying only in 2024.

• Spirit Airlines (Spirit Aviation Holdings, Inc.): Filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy for the second time August 29,2025.

• Raven Alaska: Closed operations on August 2025 After a previous Chapter 11 proceeding; Discontinue flights and combine with other operations such as New Pacific.

• Corporate Air: Filed for Chapter 11 In bankruptcy (reorganization). September 2025 As part of a planned sale, according to Bondoro.

• Play Airlines: The Reykjavík-based airline ceased operations and entered involuntary bankruptcy September 2025.

• Brathans Airlines: Forced to file for bankruptcy and cancel all flights September 2025.

“This is the twelfth shutdown since operations resumed,” the source told a local outlet. “The problem is that airlines don’t keep stocks of spare parts. As a result, even minor technical problems can ground their only aircraft for weeks.”

Travel News:

Travel agencies with affected customers instructed them to continue to try to contact the airline for information on when flights will resume.

Those needing to travel between Brazzaville and Yaoundé immediately reported buying tickets at inflated prices with competing airlines such as Cameroon’s Camera-Co due to the rush of other passengers suddenly needing to book the same routes.

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This story was originally published by TheStreet on December 21, 2025, where it first appeared in the Travel section. Add TheStreet as a preferred source by clicking here.