Romanian airline AnimaWings files for insolvency

Romanian airline AnimaWings, part of Memento Group Holding, founded by Cristian and Marius Pandel, filed a request for insolvency with the Bucharest Court on September 30, after announcing the previous day that it planned to gradually ground and phase out its entire fleet of six brand-new Airbus A220-300 aircraft because of recurring technical problems, according to Boardingpass.ro.

The company said in a note to customers that it is “undergoing a judicial reorganisation process, initiated by the company to protect business continuity and stabilise its operations.”

“The decision comes primarily as a result of recurring technical issues that have affected fleet availability, with subsequent impacts on our operational, commercial, and financial activities,” the company said.

AnimaWings said its flight schedule would be adjusted over the coming days according to available operational capacity.

“Our teams are working continuously to operate as many scheduled flights as possible and to minimise the impact on passengers.”

In a separate press release, AnimaWings said it had “decided to initiate the judicial reorganisation procedure, an initiative taken by the company with the objective of accessing the legal protection framework necessary to continue its activity, stabilise operations and restructure obligations in a sustainable manner.”

AnimaWings said it would continue its flight operations “in the current fleet format”, namely with two of its eight aircraft. In the immediate future, the company’s priority is to maintain as many scheduled flights as possible and limit the impact on passengers.

The airline is cancelling an as-yet-unknown number of flights, as it is notifying passengers individually rather than providing a centralised overview of the cancellations. The number could be significant given the share of the fleet affected by the decision. AnimaWings operates eight aircraft, including two A320s that will take over as many routes previously operated by the A220s as possible. At the same time, the company continues to sell tickets for most of its routes.

AnimaWings operates six Airbus A220-300 aircraft, powered by Pratt & Whitney PW1500G engines, which have been affected by significant technical problems.

By choosing the A220-300 as the main aircraft type for its fleet, most likely in part because of the substantial discounts offered by the manufacturer to compensate for the risks associated with the engines, AnimaWings took a risky decision that is now being paid for by the company and its passengers.

CEO Marius Pandel said in an interview published by Hotnews.ro on September 28 that AnimaWings is in full swing and has no plans to stop. He and his brother, Cristian Pandel, founded AnimaWings in 2019 through Memento Group Holding, which also runs the tour operator Christian Tour.

In April 2026, the company announced that 50% of the company's shares were to be taken over by BT Asset Management SAI, part of the Banca Transilvania Financial Group, Winners Holding Investments and Evergent Investments. The Pandel brothers remained with half of the shares.