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Malaysia Airlines, via its official LinkedIn account, announced (04-Aug-2025) it received its 14th Boeing 737 MAX 8 at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. This is the carrier's final 737 MAX 8 delivery for 2025, with deliveries to resume in 2026.

Joby Aviation entered (04-Aug-2025) a definitive agreement to purchase Blade Air Mobility's urban air mobility passenger business, including operations in the US and Europe, and the Blade brand. Joby will pay Blade up to USD125 million in stock or cash and the transaction is expected to close "in the coming weeks". Blade's passenger operations will continue as a wholly owned subsidiary of Joby. Joby aims to accelerate its commercialisation while reducing infrastructure investment requirements and customer acquisition costs by using Blade's existing infrastructure and gradually transitioning its passenger base from helicopters to Joby aircraft. Blade handled more than 50,000 passengers in 2024 from a network of 12 urban terminals, including dedicated lounge and terminal bases at New York John F Kennedy International Airport and New York Newark Liberty International Airport. Blade's medical division is not included in the transaction and will remain a separate public company, but will partner with Joby on medical transportation. [more - original PR]

IATA reported (04-Aug-2025) the following highlights from its World Air Transport Statistics report for 2024:

• Premium travel:
  • International premium travel (business and first class) grew 11.8% year-on-year to 116.9 million passengers, outpacing growth of 11.5% in economy travel. Premium travellers made up 6% of total international passengers;
  • Asia Pacific led regional growth with a 22.8% increase to 21 million premium passengers and a 28.6% increase to 500.8 million economy class passengers. Growth in premium travel exceeded economy class in Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and North America. Europe remained the largest market for international premium travel with 39.3 million passengers. The Middle East recorded the highest proportion of premium travellers at 14.7%;
• Top airport pairs:
  • Asia Pacific accounted for nine of the top 10 busiest airport pairs. Jeju-Seoul Gimpo was the busiest route with 13.2 million passengers. Jeddah-Riyadh was the only top 10 route outside Asia Pacific;
  • Bogota-Medellin was the busiest route in Latin America (3.8 million passengers), Cape Town-Johannesburg was the busiest in Africa (3.3 million), New York JFK-Los Angeles was the busiest in North America (2.2 million) and Barcelona-Palma de Mallorca was the busiest within Europe (two million);
• Most used aircraft:
  • Boeing 737 aircraft operated 10 million flights and 2.4 trillion ASKs;
  • A320 aircraft operated 7.9 million flights and 1.7 trillion ASKs, and the A321 operated 3.4 million flights and 1.1 trillion ASKs;
• Top passenger countries:
  • The US remained the world's largest aviation market with 876 million passengers (+5.2%);
  • China was the second largest market with 741 million passengers (+18.7%). [more - original PR]

Air Niugini CEO Gary Seddon reported (04-Aug-2025) all 15 domestic airports served by the carrier's Fokker fleet in Papua New Guinea can accommodate the incoming A220 aircraft, according to comprehensive technical studies undertaken by Airbus. Mr Seddon stated: "Airbus and Air Niugini have thoroughly evaluated the performance of both the A220-100 and A220-300 models and confirmed these aircraft can serve every airport where our Fokker 70s and 100s operate". Mr Seddon added: "The replacement of our Fokker fleet with Airbus A220s will be a massive change for Air Niugini. The first of these aircraft arrives in September this year". [more - original PR]

London Luton Airport launched (31-Jul-2025) 'LLA Lilo Exchange', an initiative which offers a selection of free, pre-used inflatables to departing holidaymakers. Returning flyers can then drop off the used items in exchange for a free Fast Track security pass for their next journey from the airport. The initiative aims to address pollution, with airport research finding holidaymakers leave 20.9 million tonnes of plastic waste in holiday destinations. [more - original PR]

Etihad Airways commenced (01-Aug-2025) deployment of its first A321LR on Abu Dhabi-Phuket service. As previously reported by CAPA, the airline took delivery of its first of 30 A321LRs in Jul-2025 and expects to receive a further nine by the end of 2025. The aircraft is Etihad's first narrowbody to feature a first class cabin, and is also equipped with 14 business class and 144 economy class seats. Etihad Airways chief revenue and commercial officer Arik De stated: "The A321LR symbolises our ambition to deliver extraordinary experiences on every route we serve", adding: "It allows us to bring the sophistication of our widebody cabins, including our renowned First experience, to more destinations, and to more travellers, than ever before". [more - original PR]