Air Transport

As Europe’s aviation industry studies changes in climate policy, experts hope analysis of contrail effects will guide lawmakers to produce effective legislation

Uzbekistan’s Qanot Sharq has become the fifth Airbus A321XLR operator worldwide, having taken delivery of the first of four A321XLR aircraft.

Swiss International Air Lines has signed a five-year offtake agreement with Switzerland’s Synhelion.

Volaris and Viva Aerobus have agreed to a merger of equals, bringing the country’s two largest domestic operators under a single holding company.

A total of 18 widebody aircraft were delivered in November, which was four units below the previous month but eight above November 2024.

Pegasus Airlines signs a CFM Leap maintenance deal for its future 737-10 fleet.

Libya is moving to revive its aviation sector with plans to launch a new national airline, Libyan United Airlines, expecting to begin operations in early 2026.

Lufthansa plans to upgrade 134 Airbus A320 family aircraft with the FANS-C digital communications system to improve operations and lower CO2 emissions.

Onera has started using a new test facility for structural materials, applying new methods to a Clean Aviation project on airframes for hydrogen propulsion.

Emirates and Gameco have signed new multi-year agreements extending heavy-maintenance support for Emirates’ Airbus A380 and Boeing 777 fleets.

Saudi LCC Flyadeal has opened a new, expanded Integrated Operations Control Center (IOCC) at its headquarters in Jeddah.

Listen in to the annual Flubs & Forecasts edition of Check 6, where editors reflect on what they got right and wrong in 2025 and make their predictions for 2026.

Canadian leisure carrier Air Transat has unveiled two more new routes for its 2026 summer schedule, including launching the sole connection between North America and Tirana, Albania.

Hong Kong–Taipei retained its position as the world’s busiest international air route in 2025, while nine of the 10 busiest routes were in the Asia-Pacific region.

Forecasts, snapshots and commercial aircraft programs to watch.

Air transport will continue to grow in 2026, but regional differences show the clear effect of economic policies.

The latest airline route news, featuring network changes, schedule alterations, codeshares and interline agreements.

Heightened speculation on the ULCC’s next move comes just ahead of the winter holiday season, just over a year since its first round of bankruptcy protection.

Stansted, the UK capital’s third-largest airport, has received the go-ahead for a significant increase in its annual passenger limit.

The U.S. Senate passed the ROTOR Act that would mandate ADS-B In and require ADS-B Out usage for all but the most national security-critical flying in congested airspace.

Delta Air Lines President Glen Hauenstein will retire in early 2026, following two decades at the company.

Neste and Cathay Group have agreed to a deal for the supply of Neste’s sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) across Europe, the U.S., and Asia-Pacific.

Finnair will begin flying to Melbourne next autumn, marking the Nordic carrier’s first-ever scheduled service between Finland and Australia.

Spanish airport operator Aena has agreed to buy a majority stake in a new holding company that owns and manages Leeds Bradford Airport.

Hybrid-electric propulsion for narrowbody airliners is a focus of the European Clean Aviation research program’s fourth call for proposals.