Iceland has become Eurocontrol's 42nd member state and the first to join the air traffic manager in a decade. Eurocontrol says the country is already well integrated into Europe in terms of air navigation, through membership in the European Economic Area, the Schengen Area, and the European Free Trade Association, and has been closely co-operating with it for 25 years. It adds that Iceland has been participating as an observer in its provisional council meetings since 1998 and signed the transitional agreement in 2022, paving the way for full membership. Throughout, Iceland and Eurocontrol have been working closely together at the operational level on network matters – exchanging data, co-ordinating traffic flows, and liaising on airspace matters, it notes. "The accession of Iceland is testament to the huge amount of work that has happened on both sides since the formal exchange of letters in August 2020 launching the accession process," states Eurocontrol director general Raul Medina. "It is excellent news for the agency and for the European aviation network as a whole."

South Korean authorities have extended by a week the inspection of all 101 Boeing 737-800s in the country, to 10 January, following the fatal crash of a Jeju Air aircraft on 29 December. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport did not give a reason for the extension of checks across six airlines operating the type in a 3 January statement. Investigators have completed converting data from the Jeju Air aircraft's cockpit voice recorder into audio files and are in the process of transcribing them, the ministry says. The flight data recorder will be transported to the USA on 6 January for data retrieval. It was earlier reported that local authorities were unable to retrieve data from the flight data recorder as it was damaged in the crash. A total of 23 investigators from Korea and the USA are looking into the crash on-site. There are 12 members from Korea's Aircraft Railroad Accident Investigation Board, six investigators from Boeing, three from the US National Transportation Safety Board, one from the US Federal Aviation Administration and a representative from engine maker GE Aerospace. Jeju Air flight 7C2216 made a wheels-up landing in Muan, overshot the runway and crashed into a concrete perimeter wall, killing all but two of the flight's 181 occupants. South Korean authorities have launched an investigation into "the location and materials of navigation safety facilities around runways" at airports throughout the country, the ministry says. Jeju Air has come under pressure over the accident. The carrier on 31 December said that it would "strive to strengthen operational stability" by reducing the number of flights by 10% to 15% during the winter season, which ends in March. At a 2 January briefing, a Jeju Air representative said cuts for domestic flights could happen as soon as the following week and international flights during the third week of January, reports Yonhap news.

A Florida bankruptcy court has agreed to a request from the debtors to jointly administer the Chapter 11 cases of Silver Airways and its affiliate Seaborne Airlines. The cases will now be consolidated in a single docket under a "lead case" number, although separate claims registers will be maintained for each case, according to a 2 January order from judge Peter Russin of the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida. He adds: "The debtor-in-possession, or if applicable, trustee, will not commingle assets or liabilities unless and until it is determined, after notice and hearing, that these cases involve the same debtor or that another ground exists to order substantive consolidation of these cases." Silver and Seaborne filed for Chapter 11 on 30 December and had been seeking joint administration of their two cases. The pair are now requesting an emergency hearing on 6 January in which they and their proposed attorneys hope to convince the court to allow them to tap cash collateral under convertible note and loan agreements to tide them over until they can complete debtor-in-possession financing negotiations with a lender. Fleet data shows Silver Airways has an in-service and stored fleet of 14 aircraft, including eight ATR 42-600s and six ATR 72-600s. All of those aircraft are managed by lessors. Affiliate Seaborne Airlines has just two aircraft, which are both, Viking Air DHC-6-300s. In a separate and unrelated Chapter 11 case, Spirit Airlines last year requested, and was granted, permission to have its Chapter 11 and those of four of its non-operating subsidiaries jointly administered as one case.