Emerald Airlines, which operates flights on behalf of Aer Lingus, has disclosed its first profit since beginning services. The Irish carrier made an operating profit of €9.6 million ($11.1 million) in 2024, reversing 2023's loss of €7.6 million. Revenue rose 21%, supported by a 16% increase in passenger numbers, to 2.2 million, and an improvement of 4.6 percentage points in load factor, which reached 80%. Emerald, which took delivery of its 18th ATR 72-600 in May 2024, lifted capacity 8.8%. It now operates a fleet of 20 turboprops. Chief executive Keith Butler notes that the airline now accounts for over 25% of Aer Lingus departures from Dublin airport and has become a "well established and trusted travel choice". Emerald began flights in early 2022, operating public service obligation (PSO) and franchise services on behalf of IAG-owned Aer Lingus.

Korean Air has committed to building a new maintenance facility at Seoul Incheon International airport that will start operations in 2029. The SkyTeam carrier says that the facility, which will be built on a 69,300sqm site, will accommodate two widebody aircraft and one narrowbody simultaneously and will be capable of airframe inspections, component checks, and complex heavy maintenance and modification work. Korean Air will invest W176 billion ($120 million) to develop the new facility. "From the earliest design phase, we will ensure this new hangar becomes the safest, most advanced, and most exemplary maintenance base—a true stronghold of aviation safety," says the carrier's vice chairman Hak-jae Woo. The carrier adds that it is separately investing W578 billion to build Asia's largest engine maintenance facility on Yeongjong Island in Incheon, and a W1.2 trillion research and development centre for future air mobility in Bucheon.

The UK government has backed a London Heathrow expansion plan put forward by the airport's operator, rather than a rival scheme proposed by businessman Surinder Arora. In a written statement to parliament on 25 November, UK transport secretary Heidi Alexander says that following a comparative assessment of the remaining proposals for Heathrow expansion, the government's view is that the northwest-runway scheme brought forward by Heathrow Airport Ltd (HAL) offers the "most credible and deliverable option". She says this is principally based on the "relative maturity of its proposal, the comparative level of confidence in the feasibility and resilience of its surface access plans, and the stronger comfort it provides in relation to the efficient, resilient and sustainable operations of the airport over the long term". The government says the HAL scheme is considered "comparatively more mature in its approach to road infrastructure" and, while it requires "major works" to the M25 motorway, assessment indicates that the rival Arora Group/Heathrow West Ltd (HWL) scheme would also have had a "considerable impact" on that motorway. HAL's plan requires the purchase of more land but would involve the acquisition of fewer homes than HWL's proposal, adds the government. It also argues that HAL's 3.5km runway offers better resilience and futureproofing than HWL's 2.8km option and has the "greatest likelihood" of securing development consent within the current parliament. While the HAL plan will guide the Airports National Policy Statement (ANPS) review, any revised scheme will still require detailed scrutiny under planning law. Any amendments to the ANPS will be subject to consultation next summer. Heathrow says it welcomes confirmation that its scheme for a third runway will now be taken forward and says it awaits clarity from the Civil Aviation Authority and government on how the "crucial next phase of the project will be regulated". It adds: "We need definitive decisions from the CAA and government by mid-December so that delay to the project can be avoided and we can get on with delivering this vital project for our customers and for the UK."