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Ryanair announced (17-Sep-2025) plans to remove three based aircraft and suspend Billund, Santander and Tallinn routes from Vienna International Airport for winter 2025/26. The airline attributed the decision to Austria's EUR12 aviation tax and "excessive Vienna Airport fees". The LCC called on the Austrian Government to abolish the tax and reduce airport fees, stating it would respond with a "USD1 billion growth proposal" featuring 10 new based Boeing 737-8200 aircraft, adding more than 40 routes and growing traffic to 12 million passengers p/a. Ryanair Group CEO Michael O'Leary commented on Wizz Air's decision to close its Vienna base, stating: "Wizz's five aircraft base closure shows that Austria can no longer compete with lower cost EU markets". Mr O'Leary added: "If the Government fails to seize this significant opportunity to grow traffic and support economic recovery, then fares for Austrian passengers will inevitably rise and Ryanair will have no choice but to further reduce operations in Austria... and relocate aircraft and capacity to lower cost markets like Sweden, Italy and Hungary". [more - original PR]

IATA director general Willie Walsh stated (17-Sep-2025) "IATA will be participating in the ICAO Assembly with safety, sustainability and efficiency at the top of our priority list". Mr Walsh said: "It is critical that we secure stronger support for SAF production and CORSIA as key enablers of aviation's commitment to achieve net zero emissions by 2050". He continued: "Equally, we need agreement to follow the principles and provisions of the Chicago Convention to avoid patchworks of debilitating tax measures and passenger rights regulations". Mr Walsh noted: "We must shore-up safety with timely accident reports, mitigations for GNSS interference and preservation of critical radio-frequency spectrum". IATA called for states to take action on the following topics:

• Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production:
  • Support IATA's efforts to create a functioning SAF market;
  • Step up economic incentives for fuel producers for SAF production;
  • Make timely policy interventions to address anomalies;
• CORSIA:
  • Reaffirm the commitment to making CORSIA "a success as the only economic measure to manage aviation's climate impact";
  • Make available sufficient CORSIA Eligible Emission Units for airlines to be able to fulfil CORSIA obligations;
  • Revisions to Aviation Corporate Tax;
  • Ignore Article 8 revisions and continue with residency based taxation for airlines;
• Consumer protection:
  • Reaffirm the commitment to ICAO's Core Principles and align regulations accordingly;
  • Develop supplementary guidance to globally align on definitions of extraordinary circumstances, smooth discrepancies among jurisdictions, share accountability among stakeholders and consider the specific challenges of mass disruptions;
• Radio frequency spectrum:
  • Protect safety critical frequencies used by aviation from interference;
  • Strengthen coordination among telecoms and aviation regulators to ensure safety of flight, follow best practices of successful implementations, and agree realistic timelines for any retrofits;
• Aircraft mandates:
  • Acknowledge that airlines "hold the final compliance responsibility and are therefore the most exposed to variability in the implementation chain";
  • Create a mechanism to set "realistic applicability dates for aircraft mandates, with active monitoring and flexibility to adjust timelines if global disruptions occur";
• Pilot age limits:
  • Approve the increase to 67 years for multi‑pilot international operations, with the "one‑under‑65" rule maintained, existing medical frequency preserved, and no change to the single pilot limit. [more - original PR]

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines stated (17-Sep-2025) a further increase in the Dutch air passenger tax, with a projected revenue of approximately EUR1.1 billion p/a from 2027, will result in "unaffordable airfares for many Dutch travellers". A Markteffect study commissioned by KLM showed that 74% of Dutch travellers would consider departing from Belgium or Germany. 87% of respondents said proceeds from the air passenger tax should be used to support sustainable aviation projects. KLM CEO Marjan Rintel stated: "Since the introduction of the flight tax in 2021, the share of Dutch travellers flying from Düsseldorf and Brussels has already increased by 41% and 20%, respectively, between 2019 and 2024". Ms Rintel added: "We need to invest together in cleaner aviation, for example by supporting alternative fuels. Right now, not a single cent of the tax revenue is going toward making aviation more sustainable". [more - original PR]

Gulf Air appointed (17-Sep-2025) Martin Gauss as CEO, effective 04-Nov-2025. Mr Gauss previously served as airBaltic CEO. He replaces Jeffrey Goh in the role. [more - original PR]

oneworld, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, IAG, Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines and Singapore Airlines launched (17-Sep-2025) an investment fund to advance and commercialise sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) technologies. The Breakthrough Energy Venture (BEV) fund, led by Alaska Airlines and American Airlines, aims to identify, enable and scale lower carbon jet fuel to support consumer demand, economic development, jobs and technology innovation. The fund will invest in new SAF technologies and support the growth of alternative fuel markets to meet the long term needs of the aviation industry. BEV's capital fund, founded by Bill Gates, will serve as the fund's investment manager. [more - original PR]

Malaysia Airlines (MAS) and Qantas Airways entered (17-Sep-2025) a new codeshare partnership, under which Malaysia Airlines will place its 'MH' code on 18 Qantas operated services across Australia, enabling connections to cities such as Canberra, Darwin, Hobart and Launceston. Qantas will place its 'QF' code on MAS services from Kuala Lumpur to Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney, and services to Singapore and destinations in Malaysia such as Kota Kinabalu, Kuching, Langkawi and Penang. Malaysia Airlines plans to increase frequency to Melbourne and Sydney in Oct-2025, resume services to Brisbane in Nov-2025, increase Perth frequency in Dec-2025 and increase Adelaide frequency in Feb-2026. Qantas and Malaysia Airlines and are both members of oneworld. [more - original PR]