Before it can begin advertising and selling tickets to passengers, any commercial airline that hopes to take off the ground needs an Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC).
Issued by the aviation regulatory authority in a given country, the AOC is granted once the airline proves it has the necessary aircraft, staff, safety systems, and financial resources to operate over the long term.
The lack of the latter, or financial problems that can creep up in a notoriously expensive industry, often leads existing airlines to lose their AOC.
Airlines that have seen their AOCs revoked over the last six months include Estonia-based SmartLynx Airlines, Austria-based Mali Air, and Swedish charter carrier H-Bird, as well as the Houston-based charter carrier Starflite Aviation in the U.S.
Slovenian charter airline AlpAvia loses AOC
Not to be confused with a historic French aircraft manufacturer of the same name, Slovenian charter airline AlpAvia was established out of Ljubljana Airport in 2018 and began operating in 2022 with a single flight to Malpensa Airport in Milan (MXP).
With a fleet of two Embraer ERJ-145 jets and one Boeing 737, the charter airline expanded to run routes between a number of cities in Central Europe including Vienna, Valencia and Lyon.
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“Avoid hassle from commercial flights and join our dedicated crew on an AlpAvia charter flight,” the airline writes on its website, while also advertising services such as aircraft maintenance and pilot training.
AlpAvia became the latest European airline to lose its AOC, granted by the Slovenian aviation regulatory agency, Swiss outlet ch-aviation first reported. The likely reason is financial problems.
As a result, any flights that the airline may have hoped to run in the future are now off.
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What happens after an airline files for bankruptcy, loses its AOC
AlpAvia has not publicly commented on the situation. On its website, it does not advertise specific routes but asks any interested passengers to reach out to arrange a trip.
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.
Although few details on what caused the revoked AOC have emerged publicly, the collapse of similar charter airlines resulted from their reliance on high-spending travelers and struggles to attract enough interest in private flights.
Similar troubles befell Tailwind Air, a New York-based charter airline that had run downtown-to-downtown routes between New York, Boston, and several other East Coast cities but ultimately filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January 2026.
Related: Bankrupt regional airline to liquidate, cancels all flights
