SriLankan Airlines and Korean Air have entered a codeshare partnership from 15 March that helps to boost connectivity between Colombo and Seoul. Under the partnership, SriLankan will codeshare on Korean Air's flights between Singapore and Seoul Incheon, connecting Colombo and Seoul's Incheon airport via Singapore, the carrier says. Meanwhile‚ Korean Air will codeshare on SriLankan's flights to Seoul, Singapore, Chennai and Male from Colombo. Korean Air's passengers will gain access to SriLankan's Indian-subcontinent network, with about 100 flights a week across nine Indian cities and 23 flights a week to the Maldives. SriLankan notes that through this collaboration its passengers will be able to fly daily between Colombo and Seoul via Singapore. It currently operates a twice-weekly Colombo-Seoul service.

Boeing has reiterated previous guidance for 787 operators following an 11 March LATAM Airlines flight during which "strong movement" led to 10 passengers and three crew members needing medical attention. A 787-9 (MSN 38461, registered CC-BGG) operating flight LA800 from Sydney in Australia to Chilean capital Santiago – with a scheduled stop in Auckland in New Zealand – made "a strong movement whose causes are being investigated", the carrier said on 11 March. The twinjet, carrying 263 passengers plus nine crew members, arrived at Auckland airport on time after the incident. Most of the passengers and crew members who received medical attention were discharged shortly thereafter. "Only one passenger and one crew member present injuries that require more attention," LATAM said at the time. LATAM scheduled a new flight departing Auckland on 12 March to continue the journey to Santiago for flight LA800 passengers. The carrier said it was "working in co-ordination with [aviation] authorities to assist in the investigations into the case". Boeing says that the LA800 probe is ongoing, and that it is deferring to investigation authorities on any potential findings, which may relate to switches on flightdeck seats. "We have taken the precautionary measure of reminding 787 operators of a service bulletin issued in 2017 which included instructions for inspecting and maintaining switches on flightdeck seats," Boeing says, adding: "We are recommending operators perform an inspection at the next maintenance opportunity." Boeing notes that it regularly issues guidance and bulletins to operators.

Negotiations for the sale of a majority share of flag carrier South African Airways have fallen through over a disagreement about the company's valuation. The Takatso Consortium, an investment fund created solely to acquire a controlling stake in SAA, had been in talks with the South African government to buy a 51% stake in the airline for around three years. But the two sides were unable to reach an agreement because of an updated valuation, according to the country’s government news agency. Pravin Gordhan, minister of public enterprises, said on 13 March that although a figure had been agreed three years ago, that needed revising given that the airline market has ramped up operations since then. “Late last year, clearly, we had a different market, we had a different economy, and we had a different flying public in terms of numbers of people that were flying and a new valuation was done,” he said. “And the new valuation…the business came out now at a value of R1 billion ($54 million) and the property went up to about R5.5 billion which meant that any negotiations on this transaction would have to take into account the new valuations that have emerged.” With the two sides unable to come to a “meeting of the minds” on an amount, the agreement was terminated by mutual consent, leaving SAA fully publicly-owned. Gordhan said that the “future remains bright” for the airline, dismissing the idea that it will rely on government bailouts, as it has done in the past, to remain flying. “We are convinced, in terms of the numbers available to us, that it can sustain itself for the next year to 18 months and there are various, other ways in which immediate financing can be obtained,” he said, adding that “at no stage” should the airline draw government funds. “It must run its operations as efficiently as it can and as profitably as it can and sustain itself.” The government envisages that the airline will increase the number of routes that it flies from around 19 currently to 40 over the coming years, with a corresponding increase in its fleet. SAA suffered from weak financing and substantial losses even before the pandemic hit, requiring significant government intervention to keep it afloat. It was in a period of business rescue, where it was overseen by a turnaround specialist, from December 2019 to April 2021, during which it was restructured and shed much of its fleet. Last summer, data shows, it was operating at around just a third of its pre-pandemic capacity, with around 30 flights per day. It currently has a fleet of 13 aircraft – six Airbus A320s, four Boeing 737s, two Airbus A330s and one A340, in service, plus six A340s in storage, according to fleets data. The South African government first announced that a sale to the Takatso Consortium had been finalised in February 2022, but the transaction became bogged down in disagreements over the carrier’s historical liabilities. Last year, the company said that it still required R2.59 billion in funding for historical flight refunds and dividend payments to creditors, which the government was refusing to provide, jeopardising the sale. The Takatso Consortium has been approached for comment.