Lufthansa Group has ordered 40 Boeing 737 Max 8s and the same number of Airbus A220-300s. The deals include options on another 60 Max 8s, 20 A220-300s and 40 A320-family jets, says the airline group. It adds that the A220s will be delivered from 2026 and the Max 8s from the third quarter of 2027. Lufthansa says the Max 8s will not be used by its mainline, new subsidiary City Airlines or Swiss. "The decision on this will be made at a later date," adds the group. The aircraft will be configured with 190 seats in a two-class business/economy configuration. Executive board member fleet and technology Detlef Kayser states that the 737-8 order will "give us more flexibility for the procurement of short- and medium-haul aircraft in the future". Citing a backlog of 71 on-order A320neo-family aircraft, Lufthansa says that by taking options on more, it is "securing favourable conditions for future orders" from Airbus. The newly ordered A220s, meanwhile, will be deployed at City Airlines for feeder services to Lufthansa's hubs in Frankfurt and Munich. Boeing highlights that the Max deal represents the first single-aisle order Lufthansa has placed with the US airframer since receiving its final 737-300 in 1995. Lufthansa decommissioned its last 737 in 2016. However, leisure carrier SunExpress – jointly owned by Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines – has since operated 737NGs and Max jets. Lufthansa chief executive Carsten Spohr describes the Max order as a "good strategic decision" for the group. He notes that Lufthansa was the launch operator of the initial 737-100 variant in 1968. Boeing Commercial Airplanes chief executive Stan Deal states that the airframer's relationship with Lufthansa Group "has led to a number of industry-changing achievements", adding: "We are delighted to see the 737 return to an original launch customer's fleet." Swiss has operated A220s since 2016, serving as the A220-100's launch operator when the aircraft was still branded as the Bombardier CSeries. Airbus commercial chief Christian Scherer states: "Lufthansa Group was one of the first customers for the A220 and has successfully operated the aircraft in its Swiss route network ever since. We are delighted by this testimony of confidence from our long-standing partner and customer." Lufthansa says the aircraft orders with Airbus and Boeing have a total list-price value of $9 billion, and does not expect a significant impact on capital expenditure in 2023-24.

Ryanair and Malta Air have successfully challenged a Covid-era decision by the European Commission to approve a total of €11 billion ($12.1 billion) state aid to Air France-KLM. The EU General Court ruled on 20 December that despite a majority of the funds being made available solely to Air France, it would also benefit parent company Air France-KLM, harming competition. Outlining its decision, the General Court says that Air France-KLM were capable of "benefiting, at least indirectly, from the advantage granted by the state aid at issue". The Commission approved €7 billion in French aid to Air France in 2020 and a further €4 billion recapitalization for Air France-KLM in 2021, intended to provide financial relief to the airline industry amid the pandemic. Air France-KLM says that it "will carefully study" the judgements and consider whether to appeal. "In parallel, they will contribute to any exchange between the French State and the European Commission with a view to the adoption of possible new approval decisions," it adds. Ryanair is calling on the European Commission to order France to reclaim the aid. “Today’s judgments confirm that the Commission must act as a guardian of the level playing field in air transport and cannot sign-off discriminatory State aid issued by national governments. The Court’s intervention is a triumph for fair competition and consumers across the EU,” comments a Ryanair spokesperson. Ryanair has launched several legal challenges against what it calls unfair subsidies to domestic carriers provided through the pandemic, with varying success. A lower EU court had previously overturned the EU's approval of a €6 billion German recapitalisation for Lufthansa in May. The airline is currently challenging that decision.

The US Federal Aviation Administration has formed a three-person panel mandated to address air traffic controller fatigue and find ways to reduce it. The panel's investigation will commence in early January. A final report is due to the FAA "about six weeks later", the government agency states. Formation of the panel comes on the heels of a New York Times investigative piece published on 2 December with the headline "Drunk and asleep on the job: air traffic controllers pushed to the brink". Panel members include chair Mark Rosekind, a safety and sleep/fatigue professional and former member of the National Transportation Safety Board; Charles Czeisler, chief and senior physician with the division of sleep and circadian disorders at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston; and Erin Flynn-Evans, head of the NASA Ames Research Center Fatigue Countermeasures Laboratory. "The three-member panel will examine how the latest science on sleep needs and fatigue considerations could be applied to controller work requirements and scheduling," the FAA says.