Low-cost airline in insolvency, not giving refunds

Launching as a charter airline in 2018 and beginning its first commercial flights in 2023, Romanian budget airline Dan Air has earlier this autumn requested the right to enter insolvency proceedings.

The airline running flights from Romania to European capitals such as London, Dublin, Turin, Paris, and Dortmund saw its debt balloon from 90 million Romanian lei ($19 million USD) in 2024 to 126.3 million lei (roughly $26.5 million USD) in 2025.

After Romania’s Ilfov Tribunal weighed proposals for how the budget carrier will reorganize its finances, the airline officially entered insolvency on November 6.

“Reorganisation does not mean bankruptcy”: What is going on with low-cost airline Dan Air

While the terms “insolvency” and “bankruptcy” are often used interchangeably in many parts of the world, the carrier stressed that it is not in bankruptcy because it has worked out a plan to restructure debts that has been approved by the court (while this would still make a company bankrupt in the U.S., under Romanian law an airline is not bankrupt if it is not ordered into liquidation).

“Reorganisation does not mean bankruptcy,” the airline said in a statement first reported by local outlet Adevarul.ro. “The procedure provides Dan Air with the legal protection necessary to continue its activity and pay its debts according to a reorganisation plan approved by the creditors and confirmed by the insolvency judge.”

Related: Another national airline loses license, cancels all flights

Dan Air has a reported fleet of three aircraft, an Airbus A319-100 and two Airbus A320-200s. Any flights that Dan Air may have had scheduled in the coming weeks have been canceled since the start of November.

These other airlines filed for bankruptcy or shut down in 2026:

• Flamingo Air and Aerodiana: The regional airlines with large client bases among tourists to the Bahamas and Peru, respectively, currently have suspended AOCs after fatal accidents in their home countries in July 2026.
• Spirit Airlines: The largest airline shutdown of the year occurred when Spirit Airlines canceled all remaining flights on May 2. Although the airline had filed for Chapter 11 protection twice before, the skyrocketing price of jet fuel dealt the final blow.
• Magnicharters: The Mexican low-cost airline ended up canceling all flights and filing for bankruptcy in a shutdown that left thousands stranded.
• Starflite Aviation: Houston-based Starflite Aviation had its AOC license revoked in March 2026, amid FAA claims that owners falsified pilot training records to bypass safety audits.
• AlpAvia: Slovenian charter airline AlpAvia also shut down in March 2026 after years of financial problems.

Dan Air representatives have claimed that any refunds that passengers with disrupted travel are trying to receive need to go through the Netopia payment system that it previously used for its payment processing; while Netopia redirects requests for refunds to the airline, Dan Air says that it cannot provide any refunds since it cannot access its funds due to the insolvency procedure.

Dan Air cancels 11,000 flights as refund questions loom

According to local reports, approximately 11,000 Dan Air flights in the coming months have been canceled by the airline while others are still running.

The airline advised anyone who has not received an email informing them of a cancelation to show up at the airport as they would otherwise.

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Netopia, meanwhile, said that payments made by customers are being held in protection accounts to be given out as refunds through the insolvency process rather than being used for commercial purposes.

This also comes as the Romanian air traffic control authority, ROMATSA, threatens to suspend services over unpaid invoices for work done earlier in the year. Whether the air traffic authority has the right to do this will also be sussed out in court as part of the insolvency process.

Related: Another low-cost airline files for bankruptcy protection