Ascend operates from UK airports, including Gatwick (Picture: Getty Images)
An airline that operates flights from Gatwick Airport and Stansted Airport has cancelled all flights, with immediate effect.
Ascend Airways was a ‘wet-lease’ carrier, meaning it didn’t sell seats directly to passengers – instead, it operated behind the scenes.
Also known as ACMI (Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance and Insurance), they were a short-term supplier of fully-crewed planes, meaning their customers weren’t travellers, but other airlines.
Their previous clients included TUI, Oman Air and Air Sierra Leone.
But now, Ascend are officially giving up their UK Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC), a document that every airline needs in order to operate commercial flights in the UK. They’ll also be returning their fleet of eight aircraft.
Ascend is a wet-lease carrier, operating planes for other airlines (Picture: Getty Images)
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The airline’s Malaysian arm has clarified that its operations remain unaffected.
In a Linkedln post on Wednesday, the airline said Ascend Airways Malaysia is a separate legal and financial entity from Ascend Airways Ltd in the UK and continues to operate as usual.
‘Ascend Airways Malaysia remains operationally stable, continues to meet all its contractual obligations and is progressing on-track with communicated expansion plans,’ it said.
According to Ascend insiders, a company-wide email explaining the shut down blamed economic pressures, including the impact of the jet fuel crisis caused by the conflict in Iran.
‘It’s to do with the economy, we couldn’t get contracts, the UK is a lot more expensive than Europe,’ a source told The Sun.
‘The fuel situation had a massive effect on it as well.’
The Strait of Hormuz, which has effectively been blocked by Iran since February, handles approximately 20% of the world’s oil supply.
Its closure and the subsequent jet fuel crisis has had a massive impact on the aviation industry, with costs for a barrel skyrocketing from around $85 to $90 (£62 to £85) per barrel to $150 to $200 (£110 to £150).
While airlines around the world are cutting routes and introducing extra charges in an effort to manage soaring prices, Ascend is the first UK airline to have ceased operations because of it.
The carrier reportedly waited until their final flight with Oman Air had landed from Muscat at Stansted Airport before sharing the news with colleagues yesterday.
Oman Air was one of Ascend’s customers (Picture: Getty Images)
Insiders say Ascend also shared that a lack of contracts – again due to airlines scaling back operations amid the jet fuel crisis –also caused issues for the company.
Aviation Business News reports that they unsuccessfully bid on a licence to operate across the Scottish islands.
Although new, Ascend Airways is part of the Avia Solutions Group family, the world’s largest ACMI provider, based in Dublin – and includes Latvia-based SmartLynx which calls itself the ‘Uber of aviation’, and Lithuanian Avion Express.
For a run down of all the airlines cancelling flights and adding extra charges amid jet fuel crisis, read Metro’s full guide.
Metro have contacted Ascend Airlines for comment.
What is wet-leasing?
Rhys Jones, aviation editor at headforpoints.com, told Metro: ‘Wet leasing is a common practice in aviation where airlines effectively “rent” someone else’s aircraft to fly for them.
‘Unlike a “dry” lease, which covers just the aircraft, a wet lease comes with pilots and cabin crew to operate the plane. This means they can often be dropped into services at short notice as airlines do not have to train or retrain crew to operate.’
Passengers are not able to book onto these aircraft directly as wet lessors do not usually run commercial, bookable services, catering to the airlines directly instead.
Rhys says: ‘There are a number of companies that specialise in wet-leased aircraft including, in the UK, Titan Airways.
‘Unlike a conventional airlines with scheduled departures and route network, Titan Airways exists simply to operate services for other airlines and special charter flights.
‘As a result, you won’t find their flights available to book online or in flight search engines. Some airlines wet lease for others, such as Finnair, for Qatar Airways or Qantas.’
‘As a passenger, you may not know you are on a wet-leased aircraft until you step on the plane, as these flights operate as part of an airline’s normal operations, with the same flight number as one operated by an airline’s own aircraft,’ Rhys noted.
Airlines try and keep service as close to their own as possible. However, Rhys says an easy way to spot a wet-leased service is that it will not have the airline’s branding on the tail, and the crew will be wearing different uniforms.’
‘Whilst the interior cabin configuration is different, airlines will often try and load the same standard meal service they offer to all customers,’ Rhys says.
This article was published on April 28, 2026 and has been updated.
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