Both across the United States and in countries around the world, smaller low-cost airlines are having a particularly difficult time staying around amid a rising cost of operations and competition from a new basic economy model offered by mainstream competitors.

In October 2025, British regional carrier Eastern Airways canceled all of its flights to Scotland and Northern England as it turned to courts to fight off liquidation. A month later, Blue Islands of the British Channel Islands was forced to do the same in a sudden shutdown that left thousands of travelers from the remote community off the coast of mainland United Kingdom stranded.

The airline had been subsidized by the  local Government of Jersey and, after years of running up debts and struggling to bring in profit, was informed that the latter would be “unable to provide further support.”

“We will have no choice but to liquidate”: Sunflower Aviation

In an entirely different part of the world, charter airline Sunflower Aviation was also ordered to shut down all operations and cancel any remaining flights, FBC News reported.

Changing names and owners several times since being founded in 1981, the Fiji-based carrier provided everything from resort transfers and regular scheduled service to charter flights to the most remote parts of the country made up of over 300 inhabited and uninhabited islands in the South Pacific.

As Director Tim Joyce said to local FBC News, the Civil Aviation Authority of Fiji has pulled their right to fly over an audit around the Sunflower’s safety inspections — the CAAF claims that Sunflower allowing pilots in remote parts of the country conduct airplane safety checks themselves is against regulation while Sunflower says it has tried working with the agency to find a solution and enlisted two additional engineers to conduct the safety inspections.

Related: Airline cancels all flights in bankruptcy, passengers stranded

“[CAAF] would not answer emails or phone calls, and then close to six o’clock on Friday night they came back and said they were not renewing the approval,” Joyce said to the local news outlet. “Over a hundred students are now shut down, and we have six aircraft on the ground. If this cannot be resolved, we will have no choice but to liquidate.”

The airline last had a recorded fleet of 12 aircraft including a recently-acquired eight-seat GippsAero GA8 Airvan. The students referenced by Joyce are future pilots undergoing training in the country as Sunflower Aviation also operates the local Pacific Flying School.

Sunflower Aviation provides charter flights to remote islands throughout Fiji.

Shutterstock

“Significant and recurring safety non-compliances by the operator”

The Fijian ministry overseeing aviation regulation, meanwhile, confirmed that the suspension of Sunflower’s operation certificate is a matter of public safety that “cannot be compromised under any circumstances.”

Some of the other airline bankruptcies 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.
  • Corporate Air: Filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy (restructuring) in September 2025 as part of a planned sale.
  • Verijet: Filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in October 2025, canceled all flights, and ceased operations.
  • Kachina Air, Inc.: Filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on October 24, 2025.”

“This decision follows a comprehensive regulatory assessment in which CAAF identified significant and recurring safety non-compliances by the operator,” the CAAF said further.

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  • US government issues sudden warning on Switzerland travel

Under the wider Joyce Aviation company, Tim and Susan Joyce also operate tourist companies such as Skydive Fiji and Heli-Tours Fiji. According to the company’s website, these companies regularly gets contracts for services such as search-and-rescue and medical transportation from remote areas to hospital by helicopter as well as aerial filming and photography.

Related: Airlines cancel all flights to country as US threats intensify