TUI has reported that bookings in the UK and Ireland are up a quarter since a deal that enables customers to book Ryanair flights came into force last December. The European travel group reached an agreement to act as an online travel agent for Ryanair last year. This allows TUI's package-holiday customers to fly with the low-cost carrier instead of on its own flights. It is part of what TUI, commenting as it disclosed fiscal-first-quarter results, describes as a move into "dynamically packaged products" that open up "a large range of connections" for customers. "The new partnership is supporting the strong development of our dynamic offering, with sales in UK and Ireland in the last four weeks up +25% against the previous year," says TUI. UK summer-season sales across TUI's airline business are down slightly on last year, but the group reports "positive momentum in the last four weeks supported by stronger bookings" in the country. In Germany, sales are around 6% ahead, with around 30% of seats sold. Average summer-season selling prices across the group are up 4% amid flat capacity. Bookings for this winter season are 2% up on last year, with 85% of TUI airline seats sold. Pricing is around 2% higher, which is "helping to mitigate the higher cost environment", adds the group. Short and medium-haul destinations continue to drive sales, namely winter-sun destinations such as the Canaries, Egypt and Cape Verde. In the long-haul arena, Thailand has had the highest increase in demand, followed by Mexico, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic. The airlines segment's underlying EBIT for the quarter ended 31 December 2024 was down by €30 million at €125 million ($129 million), which the group attributes to "higher investments ahead of the key summer season". It has reported a 13% increase in group-wide underlying EBIT, to €50.9 million, for the period, amid a similar rise in revenue, to €4.9 billion. Guidance for the year has been reaffirmed: the group is projecting that revenue will grow 5-10% and underlying EBIT by 7-10%.

Russia's United Aircraft Corporation has received the first domestically produced engines for the Yakovlev Superjet as part of a programme to manufacture the short-haul aircraft without Western-made equipment. The PD-8 turbofans were supplied by United Engine Corporation (UEC) subsidiary Saturn which previously manufactured the PowerJet SaM146 engines for the Superjet jointly with Safran. UAC and UEC parent Rostec say the PD-8 has been derived from the larger PD-14, developed for the MC-21, and involves "advanced technologies and the latest domestic materials". The PD-8 will additionally be used on Beriev Be-200 amphibious aircraft and serve as basis for a new powerplant for heavy helicopters. "Rostec enterprises are completing the import substitution programme for the main systems and assemblies of the SJ-100 aircraft at an accelerated pace," says the state-owned group's first deputy general director, Vladimir Artyakov. "Our goal is to reach flight tests and certification of a completely domestic airliner as soon as possible." Around 40 previously imported systems and assemblies have been replaced on the Superjet, Rostec says, citing avionics, landing gear, the auxiliary power unit, integrated control system, power supply, air conditioning and fire protection equipment as examples. The substitution programme includes a modified fuselage to accommodate Russian-made components. Rostec says the new structure will simplify the aircraft’s production and maintenance. Fleets data lists 221 Superjets in service or storage, and another 72 on order.

Emirates will implement Airbus's Skywise predictive maintenance and fleet health monitoring solution and Core X3 analytics platform to service its A380s and A350s. The technology will enable MRO staff to monitor real-time aircraft performance and health data, identify potential issues in flight, and determine maintenance actions during turnarounds, the UAE carrier notes. It adds that the Core X3 analytics platform will help Emirates Engineering to "manage vast amounts of data, connecting different systems for single source, up-to-the-minute insights through an enhanced user interface that can be intuitively used by multiple teams". "Adopting Airbus's Skywise fleet performance+ is a step forward to support our Airbus fleet, harnessing the latest advancements, and transforming traditional maintenance activities into streamlined, precision led processes that optimise our time in the skies," states Emirates Engineering chief Ahmed Safa.