China Southern Airlines has again cancelled a plan to spin-off China Southern Air Logistics, citing current market conditions. China Southern says in a Hong Kong stock exchange statement that it has decided to withdraw the plan to list the subsidiary on the Shanghai Stock Exchange " after thorough communication and prudent evaluation". It adds that the withdrawal will not have material impact on the company or its future strategic plans. China Southern first announced that it would spin the cargo unit off in September 2020, but later cancelled the plan to list 49% of its equity on the Shanghai United Assets and Equity Exchange. Then, in March 2023, it advised that its board had voted unanimously to seek a listing for China Southern Air Logistics on the main board of the SSE but gave no details on when it planned to complete the transaction. The Guangzhou-headquartered unit was established on 24 October 2018 out of the cargo department of China Southern. Fleets data shows that the core airline and China Southern Cargo operate a combined fleet of 18 Boeing 777-200LR freighters with one more on order. It operates 185 cargo flights per week, mainly from China to destinations including Frankfurt, Riyadh, Los Angeles and London Stansted.

UAE-based Flydubai increased EBITDA by 15% last year, to Dh4.1 billion ($1.1 billion), as it ramped up flying and expanded its network. Reporting its results, the budget airline notes that it increased capacity by a tenth as it sought to connect with short and medium-haul destinations that lacked links via widebody operator Emirates. Last year, Flydubai expanded its network to 131 destinations (spread across 55 countries), of which 97 were in its description "underserved". Ten were new to the carrier. It says it expanded despite having been forced to "re-evaluate its route development plans" and cut frequencies on some routes "due to ongoing challenges with aircraft delivery schedules". Flydubai received four Boeing 737 Max 8s last year, but all were from the backlog of prior years. None of the aircraft that were meant to be delivered last year arrived, because of delays at Boeing. As a result, the Middle Eastern extend the leases on four 737-800s it had planned to return to lessors. Chief executive Ghaith Al Ghaith acknowledges that, going forward, Flydubai’s strategic plans are "highly influenced" by Boeing's ability to get its delivery schedules back on track "and clear the backlog". Flydubai hopes to receive 12 Max jets this year to grow its fleet, replace existing aircraft, and allow it to expand. At year-end, the carrier operated 88 737s with an average age of 5.3 years. It had an orderbook of 127 737s, plus 30 Boeing 787s. Setting the outlook for 2025, Al Ghaith notes that Flydubai is anticipating "another positive performance this year where we have laid strong foundations for further growth". He adds: "We are well-versed in managing external challenges such as rising inflation [and] supply-chain disruptions, as well as geopolitical tensions. Our focus will be on transformation and innovation through further investment in technologies that will support our sustainability efforts, improve operational efficiencies, and strengthen our inhouse capabilities." The airline lifted passenger numbers 11% last year, to 15.4 million, powered by rising demand for both business and leisure travel. Capacity, as measured by available seat-kilometres, was raised a tenth and revenue rose 15% to Dh12.8 billion.

Air India Express (AIX) has grown its Boeing 737 Max fleet to 40 units following the delivery of two further Max 8s from a US lessor, fleets data shows. Aviation Capital Group said on 21 February it had delivered two Max 8s to the Air India subsidiary, the third and fourth units of what the lessor describes as a "multiple-aircraft sale-leaseback". It did not disclose how many aircraft are in the transaction in total. The pair join two ACG-managed 737 Max 8s already in AIX's fleet (MSNs 61652 and 63289), fleets data shows. Those units were purchased by ACG for leaseback in February and January 2025, respectively. Prior to the latest two deliveries by ACG, the airline had 38 737 Maxes, thus taking its total fleet to 40 of the type. Avilease manages six Max 8s, Griffin Global Asset Management manages 10, Jackson Square Aviation manages seven, SKY Leasing manages six, and SMBC Aviation Capital manages seven. AIX has three Max 8s on order that are managed by parent Air India, which has a further 149 on order. Two are scheduled to deliver in February 2025 and one in March 2025. The carrier also operates 26 737-800s, 22 Airbus A320ceos and 12 A320neos.