Singapore’s competition regulator has conditionally approved the merger of Air India and Vistara subject to carriers involved committing to maintain pre-Covid capacity on four direct flights. Air India is wholly owned by the Tata Sons conglomerate, while Vistara is 51% owned by Tata and the remainder held by Singapore Airlines. Once the merger is completed, SIA will have a 25.1% stake in Air India group. The commission had identified four routes from Singapore to New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Tiruchirapalli as “routes of concern”, stating that despite “a number of competing airlines” operating on the route, the parties have sustained substantial market share in recent years. It adds that “price and capacity coordination between the parties arising from the confluence of the transactions would significantly restrict competition on the affected routes”. In addition to maintaining capacity at pre-Covid levels, the carriers must also appoint an auditor to monitor compliance and submit an annual written report, while individual airlines will also submit an interim report that monitors respective compliance for every three weeks of non-fulfilment in a year. Schedules show that as of March 2024, there are 172 flights per week from Singapore to the four destinations. Of these, SIA and its subsidiary Scoot, Air India and its subsidiary Air India Express and Vistara operate 135 flights, with IndiGo operating the remaining. Vistara's shareholders SIA and Tata Sons agreed to merge with Tata-owned Air India in November 2022, intending to complete the merger by March 2024 subject to regulatory approval. India's competition commission had approved the merger in September 2023. Speaking in late February, Air India chief executive Campbell Wilson touts the merger as “a strengthening of competition”, saying that the merged entity will be a “robust airline that is able to compete more effectively”. He believes it will also “bring professionalism and structure to a market which has historically seen chaos and rapid entry and exit of airlines, holding back the country and ecosystem back from reaching its potential”.

Boeing has won an order from Ethiopian Airlines for up to 20 777-9 jets. The deal includes the purchase of eight 777-9s with provisions to potentially add another 12 aircraft to the order, the US airframer says, noting that Ethiopian has thus become the first African customer for the in-development long-haul jet. "The 777-9 offers more flexibility, reduced fuel consumption and carbon emissions," states Ethiopian group chief Mesfin Tasew. "We eagerly anticipate flying the 777-9 across the African skies and beyond." Boeing did not disclose a delivery schedule for the aircraft. Fleets data shows that Ethiopian's passenger fleet comprises six 777-200LRs, four 777-300ERs, 19 787-8s, 10 787-9s, one 767, 17 Max 8s, 11 737NGs, 20 Airbus A350-900s and 28 De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400 turboprops. It additionally has 10 777Fs plus two 767 and four 737NG converted freighters. Ethiopian has another 35 Max 8s, 11 787-9s, four 777Fs, 11 A350-900s and four A350-1000s on order.

Airbus and Boeing executives expect a lack of available delivery slots will persist through the end of the current decade, with only a few programmes such as the 777 Freighter being available any earlier. Darren Hulst, VP commercial marketing at Boeing, told delegates at the ISTAT Americas conference on 4 March that 737 Max units are now sold out until "close" to the end of the decade, while there is a similar lack of availability of 787s. He says that the only programme that the US manufacturer has availability for right now is the 777 Freighter, and that was "obviously because we have less lead-time requirement for a freighter and also as we bridge to the 777X". Colin Bole, head of commercial North America for Airbus, says that prospective buyers of A320neo-family jets are now looking at delivery slots into 2030 and that they are "selling fast" into the next decade. He says that the scenario for the A350 programme is similar. Airbus has some availability with the A220 and A330neo products, which buyers could pick up in "small numbers" in 2027. Bole estimates that airlines might be able to secure a very small number of aircraft from lessor orderbooks for delivery in late 2025 or early 2026. Hulst sees the current supply-chain issues having an impact on OEMs' production for years to come and not reaching "equilibrium" until the end of the decade. Bole says he thinks it "may not [be until] the absolute end of the decade before [it] all gets fully back to normal".