Los Angeles-based air mobility platform Surf Air Mobility plans to make around $22.4 million of investments in Mokulele Airlines by the end of 2026. The investment is to "maintain its excellent scheduled service reliability, elevate the customer experience, and optimise the network for the deployment of Advanced Air Mobility... aircraft", Surf Air Mobility says. Deanna White, chief executive of Surf Air Mobility, states: "Our investments in Hawaii strengthen our airline service today while laying the operational and infrastructure foundation for new electrified aircraft to enter the market. "We believe our Hawaii network will be an ideal showcase to demonstrate how Advanced Air Mobility aircraft will improve flight-level unit economics, reduce maintenance costs, and enhance airline profitability." In 2025, Mokulele Airlines reported 36,000 departures and carried 224,000 passengers, with a controllable completion factor of 96%. It operates 10 routes serving nine airports across the Hawaiian Islands, with an average stage length of 51 miles, which Surf Air Mobility says makes Hawaii "one of the most operationally relevant markets for next-generation Advanced Air Mobility aircraft with over 14.1K flights flown across routes 50 miles and under in 2025". Starting in 2026's first quarter, Mokulele will add seven new daily round-trip flights to its Molokai schedule, including five new flights to Honolulu (HNL) and two new flights to Kahului (OGG). Mokulele schedules a total of 26 peak-day round-trip flights from Molokai to Honolulu and 13 daily flights from Molokai to Kahului. "With the expanded flight schedule between Honolulu and Molokai, Mokulele will operate the most frequently flown route of any airline in the US," Surf Air Mobility says. Surf Air Mobility notes Mokulele has added two new Cessna Caravan aircraft delivered from Textron Aviation, with two additional new aircraft planned to enter service in 2026. These aircraft, it adds, have improved operating costs, reliability, and passenger comfort. It has also invested in "refreshed lounges and ground facilities". Mokulele's website states its fleet consists of 18 208EX Grand Caravans. It is not clear whether this figure includes the aircraft mentioned above.

Singapore Airlines has launched and priced a S$500 million ($390 million) issuance of notes due 2036 at a coupon rate of 2.7%. The notes – issued under its S$10 billion multicurrency medium term note programme – are expected to be issued on 30 January at a price of 100 per cent, states SIA in a 20 January filing to the Singapore Exchange. Net proceeds will be used for aircraft purchases, aircraft-related payments, general corporate or working capital purposes, and includes the refinancing of existing borrowings, it adds. DBS, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) and United Overseas Bank (UOB) acted as joint global coordinators, while DBS, OCBC, Standard Chartered and UOB were joint lead managers.

Ryanair group chief executive Michael O'Leary has dismissed the idea of installing the Starlink wi-fi service on the low-cost carrier's aircraft, arguing that few passengers would purchase it. During a broadcasted press conference called following a public spat with Elon Musk – the multi-billionaire owner of Starlink as well as Tesla and social-media site X – O'Leary said that "probably less than 5%" of customers would pay for the service even at a cost of €1-2. "The only way we see Starlink works is if we give it away for free," he added. Meanwhile, installation of the equipment would cost the airline around €200-250 million ($230-300 million), O'Leary estimates, citing the increased fuel drag from attaching two antennae to each aircraft fuselage. That would add around 1-2% to fuel burn, he foresees. Ryanair Group's annual fuel bill exceeds €5 billion. The airline has long been making case against wi-fi, having concluded that the cost outweighs the benefits for Ryanair services with their average stage length of 1h 15min. "I think there's a limited demand for long haul; but short haul, we see no demand. And certainly nothing we can monetise," O'Leary said in March 2025. He and Musk have repeatedly traded insults over recent days, as the X boss called for O'Leary to be fired and each labelled the other an "idiot". Musk has floated the idea of buying Ryanair and having O'Leary replaced. Ryanair responded by launching a "big idiot" flight sale with 100,000 cut-priced tickets, and O'Leary thanking Musk for a boost in visits to the airline's website and a 2-3% increase in bookings. O'Leary added that he would visit X's office in Dublin to present Musk with a free Ryanair ticket. Ownership and control rules forbid non-EU citizens from taking majority stakes in the bloc's carriers, notes O'Leary. But below that threshold, Musk is "welcome to invest", adds Ryanair's group chief.