AirLibrary Bulletin
Commercial Air Transport
Issue 2523 - Jun 07
Coverage 2025 May 30 - 2025 Jun 06
Aviation Trends
Standing seat not soon
Aviointeriors' Skyrider airline seat conceptual prototype meant as provocative design innovation maximizing airplane space and ergonomics, not part of official lineup.
Hypersonic rocket engine
Ursa Major Technologies' Hadley liquid rocket engines now twice accelerated Stratolaunch’s experimental Talon-A uncrewed aircraft to Mach 5 hypersonic flight.
Ocean rate surge
According to Xeneta, mid-high average spot rates paid by shippers from Far East to US East Coast surged by astonishing 88%, reflecting willingness of shippers to incur higher costs to ensure movement of goods during reciprocal tariff pause.
AI borescope inspections
MROs, particularly with engine capability, investing in AI borescope inspections, as significant predictive maintenance improvement.
Beta's Alia lands at JFK
Beta Technologies Alia CX300 all-electric aircraft first passenger AAM vehicle landed at JFK airport, arriving after 45 min flight from East Hampton airport on Long Island.
World's best airport
Singapore’s Changi Airport, ranked best in world, designed to look like mega mall with butterfly park, dinosaur park, and world’s tallest indoor waterfall, getting even bigger with addition of fifth mega-terminal.
World seat capacity
Global capacity 2025 May at 522m seats +4% YoY, largest regions North America & West Europe each 115m seats; largest growth in capacity NE Asia, Central Asia, Lower South America.
Airline profitability to strengthen
IATA updated 2025 Airline Industry Financial Outlook showing improved profitability over 2024 and resilience in face of global economic and political shifts.
Engine reliability and durability
GE's highlights new RISE open fan engine, proposed for next single-aisle airplane, for reliability and durability achieved in recent tests; previously, GE placed more emphasis on new technologies and better fuel efficiency.
ESA radome unit
Lufthansa Technik modified its unique Electronically Steered Antenna - designed for seamless mount on vertical stabilizer of B737s - to accommodate broadband LEO satellite services.
Transpacific cargo impact
E-commerce shift away from transpacific air cargo significant impact on market and factor in IATA’s recent projection for little to no growth in global air cargo volumes for 2025 after 12% jump in demand for 2024.
New aircraft factory
JetZero plans new aircraft factory with tools capable of building Z4 as “transformational aircraft”, for example torque wrench directly connected via wifi to computer measuring and monitoring torque.
Airline data surge
Aviation in era of exponential data growth, for example A350 equipped with 50,000 onboard sensors producing 2.5 terabytes of data per day of operation; Oliver Wyman estimates annual aircraft data generation exceeding 100 million terabytes by 2026.
World's largest airplane
Radia’s WindRunner, largest aircraft by volume with 7,700 m3 cabin capacity limited to 72.6 mt payload, planned for self-sufficient handling and ability to land on unpaved 1,800 m runway; primary aim to transport wind turbine blades; development pending.
Boeing commercial aviation
CEO Ortberg advises Boeing’s commercial aviation sold out through end of decade.
Alia electric freighter
Beta Technologies’ Alia, with range up to 350 km and cargo payload to 560 kg, aims for certification in EU UK US between 2025 and 2027; trial flights operating efficiently with 100% reliability.
Africa's top airlines
Seat 2025 Jun: 1 Ethiopian 1.9m, 2 FlySafair 0.9m, 3 Egyptair 0.8m, 4 Royal Air Maroc 0.6m, 5 Air Algerie 0.6m, 6 Air Peace 0.4m, 7 Airlink 0.4m, 8 Kenya Airways 0.4m, 9 Ryanair 0.4m, 10 Emirates 0.4m.
Retail ticket pricing
Real-time personalization of traveler and dynamically bundled offer of ticket and ancillaries, by combining multiple in-house and third-party channels, aligns seat availability with seat pricing.
Solo & duo ticket pricing
According to Thrifty Traveler, US carriers American Delta United testing pricing during booking, on select one-way routes, with higher seat price for solo traveler and lower per seat price for two or more travelers.
Native order booking
Amadeus and Finnair launch ‘native order’ booking, replacing PNR and auxiliary standards, enabling passenger to utilize shopping basket on airline’s website as single record of travel for air, car, hotel and other services.
ANA sign language
All Nippon Airways Group introducing re-designed sign language badge to enhance passenger communication and service quality; updated badge worn by cabin attendants and airport staff with Japanese sign language proficiency.
External capacity LatinAm
LatinAm booming, Avianca dealing with Amazon Air Cargo to carry Amazon boxes south-bound and general freight north-bound, also with Ethiopian Airlines, Turkish Airlines, Cathay Pacific to serve other international markets.
Regional supply chains
Businesses moving from globally optimized supply chain towards regionally focused, inter-linking supply chains, aligning for set markets; using dual-sourcing as strategy for supply chain alignment realized through “east for east” and “west for west” strategy.
World’s busiest airports
Top three busiest airports: Chicago O’Hare ORD by flights due to high number of regional jets, Atlanta ATL by passengers due to high volume of widebodies, Dubai DXB by seat miles due to high quantity of distant destinations.
Airline Developments
| Airline | Event | Action | Timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Air Algerie | Intent | New model A339 B39M | 2025 Q3 |
| Philippine Airlines | Intent | New model A35K | 2025 Q4 |
| Hainan Airlines | Intent | New model A21N | 2025 Q2 |
| Finnair | Fleet | Added capacity JTD B738 | 2025 May 1 |
| KF Cargo | Intent | New model AT75F | 2025 Jun |
| Andes Lineas Aereas | Fleet | Added model B737 | 2025 Jun |
| Tashkent Air | Status | Started Flying A332 | 2025 Jun |
| Rossiya Airlines | Intent | New model A321 | 2025 |
| Freedom Airline Express | Intent | Launch cargo division | 2025 Jun |
| Azul Brazilian Airlines | Fleet | Retired model B734F | 2025 May |
| Vietnam Airlines | Intent | Add capacity A320 A321 | 2025 Q3 |
| Braspress Air Cargo | Status | Started operations B734F | 2025 May 27 |
| GOL | Intent | Complete bankruptcy process | 2025 Q2 |
| Bamboo Airways | Intent | Add capacity BBL B739 | 2025 Q3 |
| Belavia Belarusian Airlines | Fleet | Added model A332 | 2025 Jun |
| Air China | Fleet | Added model A19N | 2025 May |
| Asiana Airlines | Fleet | Removed model B763 | 2025 May |
| Ethiopian Airlines | Intent | New model E290 or A221 or B37M | TBA |
| Finnair | Fleet | Added capacity DNU A321 | 2025 May 9 |
| Surinam Airways | Intent | New configuration B738F | 2025 Jun |
| ANA All Nippon Airways | Intent | New model E290 | 2028 Q2 |
| FlyErbil | Intent | Start Flying A320 | 2025 July |
| Croatia Airlines | Intent | New model A221 | 2025 Q3 |
| BBN Airlines Indonesia | Fleet | Removed model B738F | 2025 Mar 13 |
| Falcon Aviation Services | Fleet | Added model E135BJ | 2025 May 14 |
Fleet Placements
| Lessor | Lessee | Model | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alexandria Airlines | flyadeal | B777-300 | Start |
| Aloha Air Cargo | Northern Air Cargo | B737-300 | Start |
| Amelia | Air France | A319ceo | Start |
| Ascend Airways | Air Algerie | B737-8 | Start |
| Astral Aviation | Aus Air Cargo | B767-300 | Start |
| Avion Express Lithuania | Pegasus Airlines | A320ceo | Start |
| Avion Express Lithuania | Pegasus Airlines | A320ceo | Start |
| Avion Express Lithuania | TAP Air Portugal | A321ceo | Start |
| Avion Express Malta | Avion Express Lithuania | A320ceo | Finish |
| Avion Express Malta | KM Malta Airlines | A320ceo | Start |
| Avion Express Malta | SunExpress Turkiye | A320ceo | Start |
| Avion Express Malta | Transavia Netherlands | A320ceo | Finish |
| Corendon Airlines Turkiye | IndiGo | B737-800 | Finish |
| Dan Air | Hello Jets | A320ceo | Start |
| DAT Danish Air Transport | Air Montenegro | A320ceo | Start |
| DAT Danish Air Transport | Trade Air | A320ceo | Finish |
| Fly2Sky | Mavi Gok Aviation | A320ceo | Start |
| GetJet Airlines Lithuania | Air Serbia | A320ceo | Start |
| GetJet Airlines Lithuania | Airhub Airlines | A320ceo | Start |
| GetJet Airlines Lithuania | SkyUp Europe | A320ceo | Start |
| GetJet Latvia | Mavi Gok Aviation | A320ceo | Start |
| Heston Airlines | Electra Airways | A320ceo | Start |
| Heston Airlines | Norwegian Air Sweden AOC | A320ceo | Start |
| Heston Airlines | SkyUp Airlines | A320ceo | Finish |
| Hi Fly Malta | TAP Air Portugal | A330-200 | Start |
| JetTime Denmark | Air Greenland | B737-800 | Start |
| JetTime Denmark | Finnair | B737-800 | Start |
| JetTime Denmark | SAS Scandinavian Airlines | B737-800 | Finish |
| JetTime Denmark | SAS Scandinavian Airlines | B737-800 | Start |
| KlasJet | Air Cairo | B737-800 | Start |
| Smartlynx Airlines Malta | AJet | A320ceo | Finish |
| Smartlynx Airlines Malta | Smartwings Czechia | A320ceo | Start |
| Smartwings Slovakia | Smartwings Czechia | B737-700 | Start |
| Western Global Airlines | Etihad | B747-400 | Start |
Industry Events
Air Transport Profile
Airport: Antananarivo
Air Transport Profiles & Aviation Industry Activities
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