Romanian carrier Animawings will suspend all flights from 2 to 24 October after entering a judicial reorganisation process, citing "recurring technical issues" that have hit availability across its mainly Airbus A220-300 fleet.

The Bucharest-based operator flies six A220-300s and two A320s. In a notice on its website, it says flights will be "temporarily suspended" during the three-week window "due to the current operational circumstances".

The carrier points to "recurring technical issues that have affected fleet availability, with subsequent impacts on our operational, commercial and financial activities". It does not specify which aircraft are affected. It adds that these challenges have been compounded by "broader economic pressures and rising operating costs".

Animawings aims to resume flying on 25 October on a revised schedule "adjusted to the aircraft currently available in the fleet" — wording that leaves open how many of its eight jets will be serviceable when operations restart.

The airline's fleet troubles sit against the wider backdrop of the Pratt & Whitney geared turbofan (GTF) crisis. The GTF exclusively powers the A220, and hundreds of the twinjets have been grounded worldwide awaiting inspections and part replacements since the metal powder contamination issue came to light in 2023. Animawings has not explicitly attributed its technical problems to the engine programme, but fleet availability is the metric through which the GTF powder problem has punished small operators hardest — those without the scale to wet-lease cover or absorb schedule collapse.

The restructuring marks a sharp reversal for a carrier that, just over a year ago, was in growth mode. Animawings was established as a charter operator by Romanian tour operator Memento Group in 2020. Aegean Airlines held a 51% stake but divested its shareholding in early 2024. That December, Animawings took delivery of its first A220, leased from Azorra, becoming the first operator of the type in Romania. As recently as September 2025, the airline said it aimed to build an 18-aircraft fleet by the end of 2027.

Instead, the carrier now faces a court-supervised reorganisation with its entire operation grounded for most of October.

Animawings is the second European A220 operator this northern autumn to seek court protection. Latvia's airBaltic filed voluntarily for US Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September, after unveiling a plan to cut its 54-strong A220-300 fleet to 36 aircraft by the end of this year. The Latvian carrier had intended to eventually operate 100 aircraft; it now anticipates running 41 jets by 2031.

Two cases do not make a pattern, but they do sharpen the question of how the GTF-driven availability crunch distributes pain across the A220 operator base. Large carriers can rotate schedules and absorb grounded tails; small fleets of six to eight aircraft have no such buffer — one or two unavailable jets can remove a quarter or more of capacity at a stroke.

Animawings' ability to resume flying on 25 October with a schedule matched to its available aircraft will be the first test of the reorganisation plan. FlightGlobal has contacted the carrier for further comment.