The recent Ebola virus outbreak in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia (and to a lesser extent, Nigeria) has prompted a large number of African and international carriers to suspend or limit operations to these regions in order to limit the airline’s exposure to the effected regions and aid in limiting the spread of the virus. Airlines including British Airways, Emirates, Gambia Bird, Arik Air, Asky Airlines, Air Cote d’Ivoire and Kenya Airways have all either suspended or reduced operations to the affected West African regions.

In 2013, Real Tonga Airlines was gifted a Chinese-built Xian MA-60 aircraft by the Chinese Government. The MA-60 series of aircraft has had a poor accident and incident history since its inception in 2000, and as a result the New Zealand government suspended a multi-million dollar tourism aid package and issued a travel advisory warning against the aircraft. Real Tonga Airlines has since withdrawn the aircraft and leased two BAe Jetstream 32 turbo-prop aircraft from Australia.

China' s aviation market is booming, with the country' s growing middle class creating a demand for passenger services. Boeing has estimated that Chinese airlines will require nearly 6000 jets over the next 20 years. To spur growth, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), committed to a series of reforms to liberalize the Chinese aviation market, one of the most significant of which is the removal of a ban on private carriers entering the market. Any new carrier is likely to have to compete for pilots. China had approximately 35,000 licensed pilots at the end of 201 3, the majority of whom work for airlines in the country. The existing infrastructure in China will also have to grow to accommodate demand. Historically, rapid growth of a country's aviation industry can create higher risk conditions, as increasingly larger aircraft are operated on the same runways. The CAAC has plans to address this requirement, stating that they intend to upgrade 80 airports by 2020, including a second airport in Beijing.