Qatar Airways has secured a minority 25% holding in South African regional carrier Airlink. The Middle Eastern airline says the deal will "further cement" its ambition to "develop its operations across the African continent". It has previously noted that Africa, currently underserved with air travel relative to other regions, will constitute a "big market" in the future. "Our investment in Airlink further demonstrates how integral we see Africa being to our business' future," states Qatar Airways chief executive Badr Mohammed Al-Meer. "This partnership not only demonstrates our confidence in Airlink, as a company that is resilient, agile, financially robust and governed on sound principles, but also in Africa as a whole, showing huge potential that I am delighted we are able to help start realising." Qatar Airways currently flies to 29 points in Africa, and highlights "strong growth" in the market in recent years, having added several new destinations since December 2020. It remains in lengthy negotiations to acquire a 49% stake in Rwandan flag carrier RwandAir, the Financial Times has reported. The two airlines already have a wide-ranging codeshare agreement, and Qatar has invested in Rwanda's main airport. Airlink flies to around 45 locations across 15 countries in Africa, and has an in-service fleet of 63 aircraft, comprising 36 Embraer E-Jets and 27 ERJs. "Having Qatar Airways as an equity partner is a powerful endorsement of Airlink and echoes our faith in the markets we currently serve and plan to add to our network," states chief executive Rodger Foster. "This transaction will unlock growth by providing efficiencies of scale, increasing our capacity and expanding our marketing reach. By bolstering Airlink and its business, this investment will strengthen all of the existing airline partnerships Airlink has nurtured over the years."
Qatar Airways' portfolio of investments includes stakes in IAG, LATAM, Cathay Pacific and China Southern.

A Voepass ATR 72-600 operating a flight from Rio Verde to Sao Paulo Guarulhos suffered an "electrical problem" on 15 August, Brazil's aviation safety agency has disclosed. The National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) says in a statement that flight PTB 2211 landed at Uberlandia airport as a precaution. On 16 August, ANAC was scheduled to meet with representatives from Voepass about the company's "surveillance process" and to discuss this incident. The incident follows the 9 August fatal crash of another ATR 72-500 (MSN 908) operated by the airline.

The US Federal Aviation Administration has issued an airworthiness directive (AD) requiring some Boeing 787 operators to inspect switch covers on the pilots' seats following a March incident where a LATAM Airlines aircraft was involved in a mid-air dive. The AD states that in that incident, the "uncommanded movement of the captain’s seat caused the control column input to disconnect the auto-pilot, resulting in a rapid descent until the first officer took control of the flight". Four other reports of similar uncommanded seat movement were received after the incident, with three traced back to loose rocker switch caps that could depress the switches, causing "unintended and sustained movement of the seat," the AD states. In turn, this can cause " in-flight upset from unintended and abrupt flight control inputs, which could result in a rapid descent of the airplane and serious injury to passengers and crew." The AD requires visual inspection of rocker switch caps in the seats in accordance with a service bulletin issued by seat manufacturer Ipeco that was issued in July, which also calls for the replacement of any cracked or missing covers. Operators have 30 days to comply with the directive, which affects 158 US-registered aircraft and 737 globally, the FAA states. Fleets data shows that there are 1,119 787s in service globally with a further 794 on order. The LATAM incident occurred on 11 March on board a 787-9 that was operating a scheduled service between Sydney and Auckland, which experienced a strong movement that led to 10 passengers and three crew requiring medical attention after the aircraft landed. The day after that incident, Boeing issued a reminder to 787 operators of a 2017 service bulletin that included instructions for maintaining switches on flight deck seats.