American Airlines and Fiji Airways are seeking US regulatory approval to expand their codeshare after both countries entered into an open skies agreement. The carriers are applying for blanket permission to place Fiji Airways' code on American-operated flights beyond the gateway cities of Los Angeles, San Francisco and Dallas-Fort Worth, to points in the US and to Canada, the UK, Mexico and Brazil, a 26 August filing with the US Department of Transportation shows.
Fiji Airways is launching the Nadi-Dallas route thrice weekly using Airbus A350-900s from 10 December, and the filing anticipates adding new codeshare destinations from Dallas as a result. Schedules data shows that Fiji Airways already places its code on 380 flights per week operated by American from Los Angeles and San Francisco. Conversely, Fiji Airways is seeking permission to display American's code on flights from "points behind Fiji via Fiji and intermediate points to a point or points in the United States and beyond", as well as on the Dallas route. Currently, American codes on Fiji Airways' flights from Los Angeles and San Francisco to Nadi, while the Fijian carrier is joining American's AAdvantage loyalty programme. On 19 July Fiji and the USA finalised an open skies agreement and agreed to apply it while it remains pending its entry into force, the filing adds.

Canadian carrier Air Transat has expanded its virtual interlining service with the addition of Jet2 and Air Mauritius to its platform. The additions bring the total to 16 collaborating airlines, offering access to over 280 additional destinations worldwide, Transat says. The partnership now offers passengers access to Mauritius via a connection at Paris-Charles de Gaulle or London-Gatwick. In addition, Air Transat's partnership with Jet2.com allows it to serve several new destinations in the UK, including Leeds Bradford, Birmingham, Newcastle and East Midlands. Connections are available through the search engine on the carrier's website and through some flight aggregators using technology from Dohop. The booking also includes an assistance service in case of flight delay or cancellation.

Australia's latest aviation policy white paper has committed to establishing a new charter of rights and an ombuds scheme, plus additional monitoring of airline pricing and how airports set their charging regimes. The finalised policy paper puts forward 56 government initiatives, which transport minister Catherine King says, "will create the framework to give passengers a better deal while ensuring the industry maintains Australia’s strong safety record". Central to the policy is a greater focus on passenger rights with the establishment of the charter that King says, "establishes a regime for the fair and appropriate treatment of customers, including actions the airline must take in the event of flight delays and cancellations". It will also require airlines to report reasons for flight delays and cancellations to the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics to allow the agency to provide greater detail on disruptions broken down by airline and route. Alongside that will be the establishment of the Aviation Industry Ombuds Scheme by 2026 which will replace the industry-funded Airline Consumer Advocate to resolve passenger-airline disputes. The policy also foresees changes to how Australia's airports negotiate commercial agreements with their airline customers, with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission set to play a greater role in monitoring pricing and service quality across major capital city airports. "Major airports are natural monopolies and appropriate oversight is needed so they do not misuse their market position," says King. "The ACCC will monitor the conduct of pricing negotiations between airlines and major airports - and the next Productivity Commission inquiry into the economic regulation of airports will advise whether stronger regulation is required." That may include the adoption of a negotiate-arbitrate model, which has been advocated by the Airlines for Australia and New Zealand industry lobby group. Other changes noted include reforming Sydney airport slot management arrangements, most of which have already started, but without lifting the 80 movements per hour cap nor the overnight curfew. The policy also calls for pursuing additional capacity in bilateral air service agreements with other countries and to negotiate open skies agreements "where to do so is in Australia's interests". The government has also restated its vision for the aviation industry to reach net zero emissions by 2050, with plans to establish a robust certification scheme for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) purchases and providing access to other innovation funding to development new feedstocks for SAF.