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AirAsia Group established (01-Nov-2026) the AirAsia Bahrain board of directors, consisting of the following members:

• Serra Kirdar as chairman;
• Fam Lee Ee as vice chairman;
• Non-executive directors:
  • Faisal Khalid Kanoo;
  • Nawaf Al Zayani;
  • Akram Safa;
  • Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon;
  • Jamaludin Ibrahim.

The appointments build on a Letter of Intent signed between Capital A and Bahrain's Ministry of Transportation and Telecommunications in Nov-2025, and AirAsia's announcement in Feb-2026 positioning Bahrain as its Middle East hub, as previously reported by CAPA. Capital A CEO Tony Fernandes stated: "Bahrain is strategically important to us as the gateway connecting ASEAN with the Middle East, Europe and beyond", adding: "While the geopolitical situation in the region has required us to adjust our initial plans, our commitment to Bahrain has not changed". [more - original PR]

FlyPelican, via its official Facebook account, announced (31-Oct-2026) plans to relocate operations at Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport to Terminal 2, effective 04-Nov-2026.

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines deployed (30-Oct-2026) its first A350-900 on the inaugural service from Amsterdam to Toronto. The airline plans to gradually introduce A350 aircraft on services to Montreal, Kilimanjaro, Dar es Salaam, Nairobi and Zanzibar. [more - original PR]

IATA Economics reported (30-Oct-2026) the first phase of CORSIA for 2024 to 2026 is expected to generate total offsetting demand of between 169.5 million and 214.8 million tonnes of CO2. IATA noted that estimates for the CORSIA Sector's Growth Factor for 2026 are "moderately lower" than those for 2025, reflecting the impact of geopolitical disruptions on air traffic demand and the higher emissions baseline resulting from the addition of Dominica and Vietnam to the list of voluntary CORSIA participants from 2026. IATA reported "a significant supply challenge", highlighting that only approximately 43 million tagged CORSIA Eligible Emissions Units are available, compared to projected demand for approximately 200 million. [more - original PR]

IATA reported (30-Oct-2026) global passenger demand in RPKs decreased 0.5% year-on-year in Sep-2026, reflecting weakness in the Middle East and North America. Excluding the Middle East, demand increased 0.3%. International demand increased 0.4% overall and grew 1.7% excluding the Middle East. IATA reported "a general improvement over August" on most international key routes, "with some returning to growth and others seeing an easing in rates of decline". International market details include:

• Africa: Demand increased 8%;
• Asia Pacific: Demand increased 0.7%. Traffic increased on four of the six largest international route areas. Traffic declined 0.9% on routes within Asia, which was a slower rate of decline compared to Aug-2026;
• Europe: Demand increased 1.8%. Traffic on the trans-Atlantic corridor declined 0.6%, improving from a 2.5% contraction in Aug-2026;
• Latin America: Demand increased 8.2%;
• Middle East: Demand decreased 7.5%. Traffic on the Middle East-Asia corridor decreased 8.8%, a deeper contraction than the 7.9% decline in Aug-2026. The 3% decrease on the Middle East-North America corridor was a "slightly smaller" decline than in Aug-2026;
• North America: Demand growth was flat year-on-year. Traffic declined on three of the four largest international route areas, but the decreases were less severe than in Aug-2026.

IATA SVP sustainability and chief economist Marie Owens Thomsen welcomed the "return to growth in most international markets". She commented: "These patterns have more-or-less repeated themselves throughout much of the year, and we can expect this to continue amid geopolitical uncertainty and volatile fuel prices. Global scheduled seat capacity is expected to remain above 2025 levels in October and November, but the rates of growth remain weak and highly unbalanced between regions". [more - original PR]

South Africa's Competition Tribunal approved (29-Oct-2026) a proposal by private equity firm Harith General Partners to acquire a 100% stake in FlySafair. The transaction is expected to close later in 2026, subject to outstanding approvals. As previously reported by CAPA, FlySafair's parent company Safair Operations, comprising Safair Investment Trust (49.86%), B4I (25.14%) and ASL Aviation Holdings (25%), plan to sell their stakes to a special purchase vehicle named Harith Aviation. [more - Aviation Week]