Air Transport

CHINA EASTERN AIRLINES plans March 30 to begin Shanghai Pu Dong-Tashkent (A330-200).

MICHELIN, France agreed to acquire TEX-TECH INDUSTRIES, NC (specialty textiles and fabrics) from Arlington Capital Partners, which will then spin-off FMI INDUSTRIES (composites), which includes the recently acquired Fiber Materials from Spirit AeroSystems and the Engineered Composites division from SGL Carbon, into an independent company.

JETBLUE AIRWAYS plans March 30 to begin daily JFK-Cleveland (A220).

CARGO WINGS EXPRESS, Tunisia has acquired two ex-Cargo Air 737-300SFs (23237/23970) for startup.

NEWARK handled 4.1m pax in October, down 0.2% vs October 2024.

AIRASIA PHILIPPINES plans March 20 to begin Manila-Da Nang/-Hanoi.

BASRA AIRLINES, Iraq secured AOC to launch scheduled service with two ex-HOP CRJ1000s (19015/19016).

TUI GROUP says it took delivery of five 737-8s from Boeing between December 17-22, all financed under sale/leaseback transactions.

JFK handled 5.2m pax in October, down 2.9% vs October 2024

AMERICAN AIRLINES plans in spring 2026 to add 100 new daily departures at Chicago O'Hare, a 30% increase in spring departures compared to 2025.

LAX handled 5.7m pax in November 2025, down 3.8% vs November 2024.

IAT LEASING reports it ended year with 31 aircraft under management on lease to 20 operators.

AIR TRANSAT says it now expects to take delivery of up to four A321XLRs on lease from Air Lease in 2027/2028; initial plan called for late 2025/2026.

AMERICAN AIRLINES has acquired 20.8% stake in REPUBLIC AIRWAYS.

UBS reduced its stake in AIR FRANCE-KLM GROUP from 5.31% to 3.56%.

CRESTONE AIR PARTNERS acquired two 737-800s (leased to TURKISH AIRLINES); no other information was available.

AELF established new $100m warehouse credit facility with Natixis CIB to support acquisition of mid-life aircraft.

HAINAN AIRLINES is investing CNY750m in HNA CARGO for growth.

AVENGER FLIGHT GROUP, FL was selected by Pan Am as partner to provide simulator flight training at Fort Lauderdale and Orlando.

FRONTIER AIRLINES took delivery of GTF-powered A320neo (12946) on lease from Avolon under SLB deal.

AEROLÍNEAS SOSA, Honduras acquired third Saab 340B (334; ex-Southern Airways) from Jetstream Aviation Capital.

AIRHUB AVIATION ASSETS acquired ex-Braathens A320-200 (3240) with CFM56s from DAE Capital.

AERGO CAPITAL purchased GTF-powered A320neo (10565; leased to FRONTIER AIRLINES) from Aircastle.

ORIX AVIATION purchased two A320-200s (6535/6594; leased to VUELING) in deal arranged by Aergo Capital.

CONGO AIRWAYS is acquiring ex-SKYhigh Dominicana E190 (105) for restart in 1Q26; two more are expected.