Air Algerie has taken delivery of the first of eight Airbus A330-900s from the airframer. The North African carrier had ordered five A330-900s and two A350-1000s in 2023, but subsequently switched the A350s to A330-900s. Its first A330-900 is configured with 18 business, 24 premium economy and 266 standard coach seats. Airbus says the new long-haul twinjets will "play a key role" in the airline's expansion and enable new transatlantic and Asian routes. Cirium fleets data shows that Air Algerie has nine A330-200s fitted with GE Aerospace CF6 engines. A330neos are exclusively powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 7000s. The airline's fleet additionally spans 32 Boeing 737NGs (including one freighter), one Max 8, three A320s, 15 ATR 72 turboprops and a Lockheed Martin L-100-30 transport. In addition to the A330neos, Air Algerie has eight Max 9s on order.

Wizz Air has slashed its long-term growth rate as it seeks to avoid overcapacity that could hurt it operationally and weaken pricing, the airline has disclosed as part of its second quarter results. The carrier is now targeting a "more manageable" 10-12% yearly growth rate over the coming years, against a 15% target that it previously identified as core to its business. "Addressing around a 10% growth rate against 15% is taking some of the risks out of the equation" chief executive Jozsef Varadi told investors, with the company having suffered in recent years from problems with its Pratt & Whitney GTF engines, conflicts in Ukraine and Israel, poor performance in its Gulf joint venture and stiff competition in Western Europe. "Why not a [lower] 7-8% [growth rate]? If you look at our focus markets, Central and Eastern Europe needs more than this," adds Varadi, continuing: "We think this is a sweet spot." Wizz remains the fastest growing major airline in Europe, he notes. Varadi sees the past several months as representing a period of intense change at Wizz Air, with the company investing time and money to address structural challenges that have held it back since the pandemic. The result is that "we start seeing some sunshine", he told investors. This includes a pullback from its Wizz Air Abu Dhabi joint venture in the face of poor financial results, a change that he describes as "pretty much a done deal". Meanwhile, Wizz has renegotiated its delivery schedule from Airbus, with 88 Airbus A321neos for delivery to 2030 being deferred by three years, as announced earlier in the week. Wizz’s commitment to the medium-range Airbus A321XLR has been cut to just 11 jets due for delivery by the end of fiscal 2027, with the carrier converting 36 orders to the A321neo. Varadi adds that the equipment will only be deployed through its UK operation, and not the wider business. Adding to that, "you will see a new balanced way of financing our aircraft going forward," he explains, with the airline having trailed a switch away from sale-and-leasebacks which it sees as having dragged on its long-term financial performance. That will subtract initial inflows of cash from buyers on the sale side, but save on the need for expensive maintenance costs as the aircraft are handed back to lessors, the airline hopes. In terms of its network, Wizz’s shift back towards a focus on Central and Eastern Europe "is now kind of baring fruit," Varadi adds, amid expectations of market share in the region of around 29% through the first half of calendar 2026, up from 25% in the period just passed. The airline is adding significant capacity to the region where it believes it has the best financial performance, brand awareness, and where economic growth is the strongest. Combined, "I think we have affected the major challenges impacting the business," states Varadi, who adds that "you are going to be seeing more benefits materialising in the next financial year." Earlier decisions to reduce capacity growth have already delivered a boost to the business. For the three months to end-September, profit after tax came in at €285 million, surpassing the €262 million ($331 million) consensus from 18 analysts that cover the company, as compiled by Wizz. In early London trading, the stock rose by 13%, although that still leaves it down nearly a fifth year-to-date. Operating profit came in at €412 million, representing an increase on last year of more than a third, with a margin of 21.5%. This is despite ongoing cancellations to Tel Aviv airport and revenues per-ASK dropping by 1%. That was offset by a forex gain and flat operating expenses, with costs per-ASK down by 6% helped by lower fuel prices. Varadi comments that the positive results prove that under more benign conditions than it has faced in recent years, "the business produces very good results". As of 30 September, the carrier had 35 aircraft on the ground because of GTF-related inspections, around 14% of its fleet, down from 41 in the peak summer. It expects groundings to reduce to 25-35 across the year from next March.

German travel group TUI has delivered preliminary annual results to end-September that are comfortably above its guidance. EBIT earnings came in at €1.5 billion ($1.7 billion) at a growth rate of 12.6%, exceeding guidance of 9-11% issued in August which itself was up from a 7-10% range issued in March. The company says the results demonstrate, "the strength of TUI’s business model and successful conversion of investments into profitable growth." Revenue growth of 4.4% to €24 billion is however below August guidance of 5-10%. In September, the company said that it had seen steady sales and robust pricing through the summer, while winter 2025/26 had "continued its positive start". The company has a medium-term ambition of generating underlying EBIT growth of 7-10% and reducing net leverage below 1x. It will provide its full-year results on 10 December.