South Africa's Airlink will resume flights to Nampula in Mozambique on 9 January, having cancelled them in recent days because of threats to seize its aircraft. The resumption follows "guidance and reassurances" from South African and Mozambican officials that the situation has been "defused sufficiently" without the airline's equipment being at risk, it states. Airlink withdrew services on 7 January after a local court ordered that its aircraft be seized following claims for damages raised by two Mozambican passengers who the airline had forced to disembark at Johannesburg, citing "unruly behaviour". Officials had on 28 December attempted to seize an Airlink aircraft at Nampula airport in connection with the incident. "While an attempt to seize our aircraft remains a possibility as long as the Nampula provincial-court order has not been withdrawn, we have been assured that local officials will not attempt to execute it," states Airlink chief executive Rodger Foster. "We maintain the court order, along with the claim against Airlink by two passengers who were recently offloaded from one of our flights... are flawed and without merit." Airlink argues that Mozambique's courts do not have jurisdiction to seize foreign-registered aircraft as security for civil claims. Furthermore, ⁠the incident occurred in South Africa, and the terms and conditions accepted by all customers on purchase of an Airlink ticket are governed by South African law, adds the airline. As part of the dispute, Airlink says it has contacted South Africa's departments of transport and of international relations and co-operation, as well as the country's civil aviation authority and its counterpart in Mozambique, the IACM.

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency has advised operators to avoid Russian airspace "at all flight levels" west of longitude 60 degrees east. The airspace affected by a new EASA conflict zone information bulletin (CZIB) spans the Moscow, Rostov-on-Don, St Petersburg, Ekaterinburg and Samara flight information regions. EASA says that the recommendation applies to EU carriers and third-country operators that are conducting flights to or from European airspace. Western airlines have been banned from flying in Russian airspace since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. But EASA observes that "a number of third-country carriers continue to do so, despite the war-related risks". The conflict "poses the risk of civil aircraft being unintentionally targeted in the airspace of the Russian Federation, due to possible civil-military co-ordination deficiencies, and the potential for misidentification", the regulator says. "In particular, the activation of Russian air defence systems, capable of operating at all altitudes, in response to Ukrainian missile and drone launches, which have extended deep inside Russian territory, may have a direct impact on flight operations at several locations, including major international airports." EASA cites the Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 crash near Kazakh city Aktau on 25 December and indicates that more aircraft have been subjected to "high risk to flight operations". "Most of the incidents have occurred in airspace not closed by the Russian Federation during drone attacks or activation of air defence systems." The EU regulator accuses Russia of having "not demonstrated full proficiency to address existing airspace risks by implementing an efficient and proactive approach to the airspace deconfliction". "As a result, there are limited mitigating factors, on which air operators can rely at present," EASA adds, noting that satellite navigation system spoofing and jamming are present, particularly around conflict zones and sites targeted by drone launches. EASA says that the new CZIB replaces a previous bulletin that was issued in 2022 and advised operators not to use Ukrainian airspace. The CZIB is valid until 31 July, with EASA saying that it will "closely monitor the situation [to] assess whether there is an increase or decrease of the risk".

Lufthansa Group plans to recruit around 10,000 new employees this year across a range of professions. The group says it will need more than 2,000 flight attendants, over 1,400 ground staff, and around 1,300 technical experts, with more than half of all recruitment taking place in Germany. Around 1,200 employees are also being sought for administration, plus 800 pilots. It notes that over 2,000 employees are to start at Lufthansa Technik, with Austrian Airlines and Eurowings each looking for around 700 employees. Lufthansa mainline will continue to focus on its turnaround efficiency programme in 2025 and expects to hire fewer employees than in 2024, with plans to recruit around 1,200 people over the next 12 months. Over the past three years, Lufthansa Group has brought more than 30,000 employees on board. It currently employs more than 100,000 people in over 90 countries.