The European Commission has approved a €167.8 million ($197 million) restructuring package for the French airline Corsair, designed to enable its return to sustainable profitability, under state aid rules. The decision, announced on 23 December, follows an investigation into whether the state-backed support aligned with EU rescue and restructuring guidelines. The Commission concluded it is necessary to prevent a collapse that would disrupt connectivity for the French overseas territories. The financial package consists of an €80 million write-off of loans originally approved in 2020 and €87.8 million in new financing. This support comes after Corsair faced significant financial headwinds from "unforeseeable external events", states the EC. "As a result, the airline was facing serious financial difficulties," it adds. As part of the agreement, the airline has already repaid previous state aid from 2021 and 2022 with interest. It will undertake a restructuring programme, and must implement compensatory measures to avoid damaging competition. Based at Paris-Orly airport, the airline provides essential connectivity for overseas territories such as Martinique, French Guiana, Reunion and Mayotte.

Thai Airways has taken delivery of the first of 10 Airbus A321neos from lessor AerCap. The remaining nine are scheduled to be delivered through 2028, states AerCap in a 23 December press release. "The arrival of THAI's first Airbus A321neo marks a significant milestone in our efforts to modernize and enhance the efficiency of our fleet," states the carrier's chief executive Chai Eamsiri. Excluding the latest delivery, the carrier has 32 of the type scheduled for delivery through 2028, all on operating leases from lessors including AerCap, CALC, SMBC Aviation Capital and BOC Aviation.

Malaysia Aviation Group subsidiary MASwings' operations will formally transition to AirBorneo from 1 January. MAG states that from that date, AirBorneo "will assume full legal and operational responsibility for all services previously operated by MASwings", including customer service, flight operations and passenger-related services. AirBorneo started selling tickets for its services on 10 December for travel from 14 January. The Sarawak government signed an agreement with MAG in February this year to acquire the regional carrier, which operates a rural air services network in the eastern Malaysian states of Sabah, Sarawak and the Federal Territory of Labuan on behalf of the Malaysian government. Cirium fleets data show that it has eight ATR 72-500s and six Viking Air DHC-6-400 Twin Otters in service.