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A UK airline operating flights at Gatwick Airport and Stansted Airport has been forced into liquidation.

Ascend Airways has cancelled all flights with immediate effect and will relinquish its UK Air Operator's Certificate (AOC). The firm was established in 2004 but traded under its current name for only three years.

As a "wet-lease" carrier, the airline provided aircraft to operators including Oman Air, Air Sierra Leone and TUI Airways. Also known as ACMI (Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance and Insurance), the company was a short-term supplier of fully-crewed aircraft to fellow airlines.

According to insiders at the company, staff received an email citing economic pressures, including the impact of the conflict in Iran on the jet fuel crisis, as reasons for the collapse.

A source told The Sun: "It's gone bust today, we got the news this afternoon. We've all been given the letters that it's all going into liquidation."

They added: "It's to do with the economy, we couldn't get contracts, the UK is a lot more expensive than Europe. The fuel situation had a massive effect on it as well."

Employees were informed that the airline would cease operations once their final flight with Oman Air had touched down from Muscat at Stansted Airport on Thursday. It has been confirmed the airline's Malaysian arm will remain unaffected. The carrier stated in a LinkedIn post: "Ascend Airways Malaysia remains operationally stable, continues to meet all its contractual obligations and is progressing on-track with communicated expansion plans."

Ascend Airways Malaysia secured its air operator's certificate and air services permit towards the end of last year. It has been running cargo flights with a Boeing 737-800 freighter (9M-ASC) and had previously stated it intended to expand into passenger services in the first quarter of 2026.

Ascend Airways Malaysia has now revealed it intends to launch passenger operations in July. "We will be working closely with the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia to complete the necessary approvals and prepare the aircraft for service," it said.

The UK division of Ascend Airways initially launched in 2004 under Synergy Aviation before rebranding in 2023. At the point of its collapse, it ran a fleet of one Boeing 737-800 and six Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft.