Air New Zealand has finished its four-month programme of trial flights using an electric-powered BETA Technologies Alia CX300 light aircraft. The carrier says that during its time in New Zealand the CX300 completed over 100 flights carrying 20t of mock cargo and visited 12 airports across the country, including across the Cook Strait. "Flying the aircraft in real conditions, across real routes, with our people and partners involved has given us a much deeper understanding of what next-generation aircraft could mean for New Zealand aviation in the future," states the airline's general manager of network and fleet strategy, Baden Smith. As an example of the potential savings that the battery-powered aircraft could deliver, the carrier says that on a Wellington-Blenheim sector the CX300 used around NZ$20 ($12) worth of electricity, compared with the NZ$110 in fuel a Cessna Caravan would consume. The carrier is handing the aircraft back to the manufacturer but notes that "the knowledge gained will continue to shape discussions with regulators, manufacturers and partners as aviation technology evolves". Air New Zealand has shown strong interest in advanced air mobility solutions but has stepped back from its ambition to replace its De Havilland Canada Dash 8-300 fleet with electric- or hydrogen-powered aircraft, citing the slow pace of advances in the technology.

Norwegian's business-travel revenues are well above pre-pandemic levels despite a weak national recovery in the segment, the airline group has reported. Disclosing fourth-quarter results, it notes that corporate travel volumes are up by around a third on 2019, adjusted to a comparable route network. This follows 8% growth in revenue from the segment last year, building on even steeper growth in 2024. This result is "a little bit interesting", says chief executive Geir Karlsen, noting that the growth comes despite the fact that business travel is "definitely not back" to pre-pandemic levels in Norway, based on data from Avinor, the country's airports operator. That shows demand down around 60% from 2019 levels, including a 2% fall last year. Business travel is "a focus area" for Norwegian and subsidiary Wideroe, adds Karlsen. "We think it is an attractive part of market," he says, citing "high yields". Norwegian's position in the segment has recently been boosted by a four-year deal signed with the Swedish finance ministry. That came into force in September, and is described by Karlsen as a promising start. "The Swedish market is moving in the right direction," he observes. Corporate travel has remained subdued across Europe since the pandemic, and several airlines have highlighted slow recoveries. This has in some cases been counterbalanced by higher demand for premium cabins from leisure travellers. Air France-KLM said last year that business travel had plateaued at around 80% of pre-pandemic levels across its carriers, a level broadly in line with other airlines. It declared this the "new normal" for business travel. In the fourth quarter of 2025, Norwegian made a slim operating profit of NKr21 million ($2.2 million), reversing a NKr93 million loss in 2024. Group revenue came in at NKr8.5 billion, up 4%, on flat passenger numbers. Full-year EBIT came in at NKr3.4 billion. "Current booking trends and a supportive supply-and-demand balance in the European market for air travel support an overall encouraging outlook for the Norwegian Group," it says.

UK low-cost carrier EasyJet is seeking to raise £4 billion ($5.5 billion) under its euro medium-term note (EMTN) programme, intended to provide ongoing access to debt-capital markets across multiple currencies. The programme is rated 'Baa2' by Moody's and 'BBB+' by S&P Global Ratings, which mirror EasyJet's own ratings. Ratings on individual note tranches may differ from the programme-level ratings, the airline adds. Societe Generale is acting as arranger, with a broad dealer group including Barclays, BNP Paribas, BofA Securities, Citi, Goldman Sachs, Lloyds, NatWest, Santander and Standard Chartered, among others. The offering circular is dated 16 February.