Ethiopian Airlines has officially begun construction of Addis Ababa's Bishoftu International airport, set to be the largest one in Africa. The ground-breaking ceremony, held on January 10, was attended by national prime minister Abiy Ahmed and the flag carrier's group chief executive Mesfin Tasew. The new airport is intended to overcome the constraints of Bole International, and should be completed by 2030, with annual capacity for 60 million passengers, says Ethiopian. Eventually, it will be able to handle 110 million passengers per annum. It will include four parallel runways and parking spaces for 270 aircraft. "This is truly a proud moment for Ethiopian Airlines and for all of Africa," states Tasew. "We are embarking on a new chapter with the groundbreaking of Bishoftu International airport that will redefine the continent’s aviation ecosystem." He adds that the project is "a major step towards addressing the infrastructural gap in Africa" and will facilitate trade across the continent. The project is estimated to cost $12.5 billion. Ethiopian is covering 30% of this, with the remainder sourced from international lenders, including the African Development Bank, which has committed $500 million.

South African carrier Airlink has acquired two Embraer 190s from lessor TrueNoord to provide spare parts for its in-service fleet. TrueNoord identifies the two aircraft as MSNs 19000055 and 19000070. Built in 2006 and 2007, the aircraft were previously part of the fleet of US carrier Breeze Airways and were transferred to Airlink in December, the lessor says. It adds: "Airlink intends to salvage parts from the E190 airframes and retain the engines as spares, but [is] also evaluating options for future operation of the aircraft." First-generation E190/195s are powered by GE Aerospace CF34-10E engines. Fleets data lists another pair of TrueNoord-owned E190s (MSNs 19000199 and 19000218) in Airlink's in-service fleet. These two aircraft were built in 2008. Airlink's entire Embraer fleet spans 74 aircraft: 30 E190s, six E195s, three E195-E2s, four E175s, three E170s, 17 ERJ-135s and 11 ERJ-140s. It additionally has two BAE Systems AvroRJ85s and two Jetstream 41s in storage, and seven E195-E2s on order. The airline manages 27 aircraft in its active fleet, including all the E140s. The rest are variously managed by Azorra (19 aircraft), Falko (16), Embraer (four) TrueNoord (four), AerCap (three) and FlyNamibia (one). Airlink chief de Villiers Engelbrecht describes the acquisition of the two E190s from TrueNoord as a "strategic move to safeguard the reliability of our Embraer fleet". "By acquiring additional engines and components, we can mitigate the impact of global supply-chain disruptions and maintain the high standards of service our customers expect," he states.

Etihad Airways carried 22.4 million passengers in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 21%, as it rolled out new capacity across its network amid strong demand. Load factor rose two percentage points to 88.3%, "reflecting strong commercial performance throughout the year", says Etihad. Twenty-nine aircraft joined the Abu Dhabi carrier's fleet, the largest single-year fleet expansion in its history, bringing the total to 127. Chief executive Antonoaldo Neves describes 2025 as "a year of strong growth for Etihad", adding: "We carried more than 22 million passengers – the highest annual total in our history – while improving our service, product and customer satisfaction across the year."