In the aviation sector, the Air Operator Certificate (AOC) is the primary certification for civil airlines to start operations and sell flights to passengers.
In the United States, it is issued by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), while equivalent government agencies that award AOC include the British Civil Aviation Authority, Transport Canada, the French Civil Aviation Administration, and the Swedish Luftfartsverket (the Swedish Civil Aviation Authority).
Obtaining an AOC requires an airline to demonstrate that it has the necessary aircraft, employees, safety systems and financial resources to operate flights and remain a functioning airline for years to come.
Since aviation is a particularly high-cost industry, a lack of funding led to the closure of several airlines and ultimately the loss of their AOC licenses last year.
In November last year, Estonian authorities revoked the license of SmartLynx Airlines and Lithuanian airline Aviation Solutions Group ended all operations of the airline. AOC’s Latvian and Malta branches were subsequently sold to Dutch hedge fund firm Stitching Break Point, with the hope that the airline could be relaunched after finding investors.
RELATED: Airlines shut down after losing licenses, final flights canceled
In the United States, charter seaplane airline Tailwind Air lost its license in January 2025 after calling itself a luxury transport company, but then struggled to bring in the necessary traffic on routes between Northeastern cities such as New York and Boston.
As first reported by ch-aviation, the latest airline to lose its AOC license is Swedish charter airline H-Bird. A spokesman for the Swedish Transport Agency (Transportstyrelsen) confirmed that the airline, which was founded in 1991 and operated charter flights to remote parts of Sweden from Stockholm and several other European cities, lost its operating license on December 5, 2025 due to financing issues.
While few details have been made public about whether the company has filed for bankruptcy, the situation looks very similar to Tailwind Air. The airline targeted high-end travelers booking charter flights but was unable to attract enough customers to remain profitable.
The airline has not operated any flights since early 2026; it is unclear whether any passengers have been affected by the cancellations.
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Spirit Aviation Holdings, Inc.:Applied Chapter 11 second bankruptcy August 29,2025.
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Raven Alaska: Stop operating August 2025 Following previous Chapter 11 proceedings; closing flights and merging into other businesses such as New Pacific.
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corporate aviation:Applied Chapter 11 Bankruptcy (Reorganization) September 2025 Bondolo said it was part of a planned sale.
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Play with airlines: The Reykjavik-based airline shut down operations and entered involuntary bankruptcy in 2017. September 2025.
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brazens air: The airline was forced to file for bankruptcy and cancel all flights September 2025.
