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The 787-10 Dreamliner will complement PAL’s fleet of 10 Boeing 777 jets by expanding operational flexibility across the airline’s medium- and long-haul route network. The 787’s composite design yields 25% less fuel use than the airplanes it typically replaces.

As the largest variant of the 787 family, the 787-10 can fly 300-375 passengers up to 13,890 km (7,500 nautical miles), enabling PAL to meet rising travel demand. Passengers travel in enhanced comfort with the 787’s design features, including the largest dimmable windows of any commercial jet, higher cabin humidity for less-dry air and technology that helps reduce turbulence for a smoother journey.

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Riyadh Air will become the first airline in Saudi Arabia to operate the A350-1000 and will use the aircraft to support its international growth ambitions and the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 objectives.

The A350 is the world’s most modern widebody aircraft, designed to fly up to 9,700 nautical miles / 18,000 kilometres non-stop, setting new standards for intercontinental travel. The aircraft includes state-of-the-art technologies and aerodynamics delivering unmatched standards of efficiency and comfort.

Its latest generation Rolls-Royce engines and use of lightweight materials bring a 25 per cent advantage in fuel burn, operating costs and carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, compared to previous generation competitor aircraft. The A350’s unique Airspace cabin offers passengers and crews the latest modern in-flight products for a comfortable flying experience.

At the end of June 2026, the A350 Family had won 1,595 firm orders from 68 customers worldwide, making it one of the most successful widebody aircraft ever.

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The announcement includes a previously unidentified purchase of 11 of the ultra-efficient widebody jets. Once the remaining 17 airplanes are finalized, Riyadh Air’s firm order count will grow to 67 787 Dreamliners.

The addition of the 787-10 reflects Riyadh Air’s commitment to operating one of the world’s most modern, efficient and sustainable fleets. As the largest member of the 787 Dreamliner family, the 787-10 will boost Riyadh Air’s capacity with 50 more seats than the 787-9, while reducing fuel use and emissions by 25% compared to the airplanes it replaces.

SMBC Aviation Capital has ordered 100 737 MAX airplanes, including 60 737-10 and 40 737-8 jets. The 737-10 order represents SMBC Aviation Capital’s first purchase for the 737 MAX family’s highest capacity variant. With this order, SMBC Aviation Capital increases its owned, managed and committed to portfolio for the 737 MAX family to 450 jets.

The 737-10 has the best per-seat economics of any single-aisle airplane, seating up to 230 passengers with a range of 3,100 nautical miles (5,740 km). By selecting the 737-10, SMBC Aviation Capital will be able to meet strong market demand for larger single-aisle jets, diversify its asset mix and capture a new customer base.

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Connections to Finnish Lapland, Northern Norway, and Northern Sweden, as well as selected long-haul routes, will be particularly enhanced. This is Edelweiss’s response to the continued high demand for winter holidays in Northern Europe and beach holidays, especially in the Indian Ocean.

Finnish destinations

The service to Finnish Lapland is expanding particularly significantly. Kittilä will now be served starting at the end of November instead of mid-December. An additional Saturday flight complements the existing schedule. During the winter school holidays, Edelweiss will also offer flights to Kittilä on Tuesdays and Thursdays, bringing the total number of connections to five per week.

Rovaniemi is also starting its season earlier: The capital of Finnish Lapland will be served from the end of November and will now also be served on Fridays. During the peak season, Ivalo will be served three times a week instead of two. Due to strong demand, Kuusamo will receive more nonstop flights.

Norway and Sweden

The service to Norway and Sweden is also being expanded. Following a successful first season, Luleå in Swedish Lapland will receive a second weekly connection during the peak demand months. Bergen will now also be served in February and March, complementing the existing summer schedule. Due to high demand, Tromsø, one of the most popular starting points for Northern Lights and winter experiences in Northern Norway, will now be served daily.

More frequencies on long-haul routes

On long-haul routes, Edelweiss is deploying additional capacity on particularly high-demand routes during the peak season. Malé in the Maldives will be served with an additional weekly flight from the end of October to mid-January, bringing the total to up to four flights per week. Colombo in Sri Lanka will also receive an additional weekly flight during the same period, with up to three flights per week now offered.

Furthermore, the season to Windhoek in Namibia will now start in mid-March instead of early June as before. This means the destination will be offered for a significantly longer period.

More capacity on popular holiday routes

The service is also being expanded in certain areas of the Mediterranean, the Canary Islands, and North Africa. Corfu will now be served until mid-November. Faro will receive an additional frequency throughout the season, with up to five flights per week. Lanzarote and Fuerteventura will see increased capacity in the autumn. Most flights to La Palma will now be nonstop instead of via Tenerife, simultaneously freeing up capacity to Tenerife.

The season is also being extended to Crete: Chania will be served until the end of October and Heraklion even until the beginning of December. Marrakech will receive additional flights in February and March. Bari, which was previously only offered during the summer flight schedule, will now also be served over Christmas and New Year’s.
With these adjustments to its flight schedule, Edelweiss is responding to the high demand for winter holidays in Northern Europe as well as for sunny and long-haul destinations.

The 2026/27 winter flight schedule will include a total of 69 destinations from Zurich in 33 countries, comprising 51 short- and medium-haul destinations and 18 long-haul destinations. All flights are now bookable on flyedelweiss.com

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These new codeshare flights will bring Argentina and the Dominican Republic into Cathay’s codeshare network for the first time while strengthening connectivity between Hong Kong and the emerging Belt and Road region of Latin America.

Cathay Pacific currently serves 6 destinations across 4 countries in Latin America — Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo in Brazil, Mexico City and Guadalajara in Mexico, Lima in Peru and Santiago in Chile — through codeshare partnerships via gateways in Europe, North America and Oceania. The Cathay Group currently flies to 33 destinations in Belt and Road participating countries with close to 600 flights per week, with additional destinations served through codeshare agreements.

To support these new codeshare services, starting 25 October 2026 Cathay Pacific will be adding three more flights per week on its non-stop Hong Kong-Madrid route, bringing the service to a daily frequency.

Cathay Pacific’s Hong Kong-Madrid flights will operate on a staggered schedule, with the three additional flights on Monday, Thursday and Saturday providing customers with the option of a late-night departure out of Europe.

Flight schedules are as follows (all times local, subject to change and regulatory approval):

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With this approval, Air India has now become one of the first airlines to adopt fleet-wide Electronic Technical Logbooks across its entire B787 widebody fleet, to achieve a complete fleet-wide ETL implementation.

The Electronic Technical Logbook replaces traditional paper-based maintenance records with a secure digital platform, enabling faster, more accurate, and more efficient management of aircraft maintenance and engineering activities. The digital system provides real-time information sharing between maintenance engineers, and operational teams, improving coordination, accelerating defect reporting and rectification, and enhancing aircraft dispatch reliability.

The ETL platform also delivers enhanced data integrity, traceability, and regulatory compliance while providing advanced analytics that support predictive maintenance and informed engineering decision-making. In addition, the paperless system significantly reduces paper consumption, supporting Air India’s sustainability objectives.

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The upgrade programme will see the airline’s Boeing 777-300ERs fitted with new Business Premier and Economy interiors, and give customers a fresh, more consistent experience across Air New Zealand’s international fleet.

Business Premier

The refreshed Business Premier cabin will feature new Collins Elevation seats, offering customers more personal space, comfort and privacy, in a forward-facing layout.
“The updated Business Premier cabin will deliver a modern experience for our customers and brings similar functionality to the new seats being rolled out across our 787-9 fleet. It will also see the layout change to a ‘reverse herringbone’ format,” says ANZ.

Key features include:

44 seats (unchanged from current layout)
43″ pitch seats that convert to a lie-flat bed
All seats will have doors for enhanced privacy
Centre seats have sliding privacy dividers
18″ inflight entertainment screens with Bluetooth audio connectivity
USB A and USB C connection

Economy

Customers travelling in Economy will enjoy new ergonomically designed seats from ZIM, along with upgraded inflight entertainment screens.

Key features include:

246 seats (two additional seats compared to the current layout)
Economy Stretch seats with 35″ pitch
Standard Economy seats with 31″-32″ pitch
13″ inflight entertainment screens with Bluetooth audio connectivity
USB C connection

Premium Economy remains as it is currently, with the cabins having gone through a refresh programme over the past year, with new seat covers and cabin curtains.

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Operating across a schedule of over 55 daily flights, Air India travellers enjoy Internet access during their flight enabling them to catch up on emails or browse social media. Usage has grown steadily over the year, with onboard Wi-Fi consumption surging from 30% in June 2025 to 55% in June 2026.

Connectivity at 35,000 feet

Nearly 89% of connected passengers choose to stream content on social media while in transit. The remaining 11% opted for web browsing, emails and messaging apps. The consistent demand for the service resulted in nearly 500 TB worth of data consumption over the year. By category, streaming services accounted for 86% of total usage while web browsing comprised the remaining 14%.

These numbers represent the beginning of the transforming on board experience for Air India’s passengers. These numbers are currently driven by an initial fleet of 28 Wi-Fi enabled aircraft that operate flights across the globe to cities including London, New York, Newark, Frankfurt, Melbourne, Hong Kong, Singapore, Bali, Manila and Mauritius, with more aircraft and cities to be added progressively. As the connected fleet grows, so will the opportunities for passengers to carry their digital lives with them, wherever they fly.

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Ahead of the Farnborough International Airshow, Boeing released its 2026 Commercial Market Outlook (CMO), forecasting that operators will need nearly 44,000 new airplanes to support sustained air travel demand and air cargo expansion over the next 20 years. Half of these deliveries are projected to replace previous-generation airplanes with more fuel-efficient models and support sustainability goals.

How is the Middle East crisis affecting global passenger air travel?

– Passengers are adjusting destinations and routings rather than forgoing travel in the near term.
– Point‑to‑point and short‑haul leisure segments are leading traffic growth, while long‑haul travel in some regions, including the Middle East, has seen the most short-term impact.
– In the long term, air travel continues to connect the world through enduring demand drivers, including extended and dispersed families and friend networks, growing tourism and expanding destinations, trade and commerce.
– Passenger traffic is expected to grow 4% annually, resulting in a doubling of global air traffic between 2026 and 2045.

What strategies are airlines pursuing to innovate and expand?

– Airlines have added nearly 5,500 new airport pairs since 2015, driving nearly 30% network growth and giving passengers more choices and more direct itineraries.
– Airlines are broadening service levels, from ultra‑low‑cost to premium, depending on trip need, passenger value and market conditions:
– Premium offerings are growing, especially in North America and Northeast Asia, supported by higher incomes and wealth effects.
– Low‑cost options are expanding in emerging markets such as Latin America, Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia, improving affordability.
– Without the efficiency and productivity gains of new, efficient jets, airlines would need 9,000 additional airplanes to serve the same number of passengers.

How will airplane demand evolve over the next 20 years?

– Demand remains balanced across the nearly 44,000 new airplane deliveries projected over the next two decades:
– Mature regions, including North America, Eurasia, Oceania and Northeast Asia, will account for about 45% of new deliveries.
– Transitioning and emerging markets, like China, the Middle East, Latin America, South and Southeast Asia, and Africa, will make up about 55% of new deliveries.
– Low‑cost carrier fleets are expected to grow nearly 4% annually, versus nearly 3% growth for network carriers.
– Globally, replacement demand is rising as mature and transitioning markets renew fleets. By 2045, less than 10% of previous‑generation airplanes are expected to remain in the global fleet.

How is air cargo performing in the current environment and how will it change in the next 20 years?

– Air cargo demand remains resilient as operators adapt routes and flows in response to geopolitics.
– International freighter capacity has increased 5% year‑to‑date in 2026 despite market disruptions, underscoring the flexibility and agility of air cargo networks to meet demand.
– Through 2045, air cargo traffic is forecast to grow about 3.7% annually, outpacing trade and economic growth.
– Demand is supported by the need to move high‑value, perishable and time-sensitive goods, as well as supply chain reliability and cross-border e-commerce.

Industry and 2026 CMO by the numbers:

– Passenger traffic has grown despite double-digit swings in oil prices in 17 of the last 25 years.
– Half of the 5,500 new routes added to the global network over the last decade are served daily or more.
– Airlines generate nearly half of their revenue from premium passenger traffic, cargo and ancillary revenue streams.
– The global single-aisle fleet will nearly double to more than 36,000 jets, serving core short-haul networks and operating more than half of all global capacity.
– More than 8,000 widebody airplanes will be in service in 2045, enabling long-haul passenger routes, enhanced passenger experience and critical air cargo capacity.
– Air cargo traffic growth and the need for new-technology freighters to renew the fleet will drive demand for more than 2,900 production and converted freighters.

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Redesigned by Air France teams in collaboration with MARKS Brandimage, this space spanning over 1,000 m2 has been conceived to offer greater privacy and comfort for each guest.

This space expands on the new La Première airport experience launched in summer 2024, as well as the latest onboard suites introduced on select Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. Integrating generous, enveloping spaces, warm materials, and carefully crafted lighting, every detail combines to create an intimate and refined atmosphere.

For complete privacy before their flight or between two flights, La Première guests have the option to reserve exclusive 45 m² suites, located adjacent to the lounge. First introduced in summer 2024, three suites are now available, two of which can be adjoined upon request.

Each suite features a spacious living room, a bedroom with a double bed, a bathroom, and a comfortable outdoor patio. Works of art are also displayed throughout. Upon arrival, guests are welcomed with a champagne and caviar offering by Sturia. Conceived as true private cocoons, these suites also allow guests to dine in complete privacy, enjoying the menu created for the La Première lounge by Alain Ducasse and his teams.