A Boeing 737 Max 8 operated by Air India Express and owned by Avilease has sustained nosewheel damage during a hard landing at Phuket International airport on 11 March. Airports of Thailand states that the aircraft was operating flight AB938 from Hyderabad when it experienced a "malfunction on the runway" while landing at 11:24am local time. "Preliminary inspections indicated that the aircraft experienced a hard landing, which caused damage to the nose landing gear, preventing the aircraft from immediately vacating the runway. However, no injuries have been reported," the airport operator says. There were seven crew members, 131 passengers and two infants on board the aircraft, but no injuries were reported. As the aircraft was immobilised on the runway, Phuket airport was closed until the early evening to allow it to be moved. Fleets data shows that the aircraft bears MSN 43836 and was delivered new to Air India Express in May 2025, when Avilease purchased it through a sale-and-leaseback transaction.

Latvia's Air Baltic continued to expand its ACMI offering last year, with the business segment's share of capacity by number of flights rising to 38%. The carrier operated 30,000 ACMI services last year, up 15% on 2024 and compared with a total of just over 78,000 flights, it said while disclosing its annual results. In comparison, its network flights increased by just 3% to 48,000. Total load factor reduced by 1 percentage point to 80.2%. "ACMI and charter services remained an integral part of Air Baltic's business model, contributing to operational flexibility and revenue diversification, with charter operations totalling above 650 flights during the year," says the carrier. It has been hit hard by the war in Ukraine and the ongoing groundings that have resulted from Pratt & Whitney GTF engine issues which affect its Airbus A220s. The groundings have forced it to bring in wet-lease capacity to ensure it can operate its scheduled services, even while it expands its own ACMI offering to other airlines. Last year, it agreed ACMI deals with Lufthansa Group and Air Serbia. In January, Air Baltic said wet-lease activity accounted for a fifth of its 2025 revenue, with an average of 14 Airbus A220s on ACMI during the year, a 19% rise on 2024 and over a quarter of its total fleet. The figure reached 20 at the summer peak. Air Baltic has posted an adjusted EBITDAR of €144 million ($167 million) for 2025, down €40 million on last year, on revenue that grew 4% to €779 million. It attributes its weaker operating result to higher operating costs and restricted aircraft availability, although this was partly offset by the falling dollar. Ticket sales were soft at the start of 2025, but yields improved during the second half, it adds, "supported by efficient capacity deployment, targeted pricing actions, and strengthening demand across core markets". Chief executive Erno Hilden describes 2025 as a "challenging year, operationally", with the industry facing maintenance issues which required it to revise its schedules. "Despite these disruptions and continued cost pressures, we saw steady demand for our services and further development across both network and ACMI operations," he adds. "While external factors continued to affect financial performance, the total result improved compared to the previous year, supported by more favourable operating conditions in the second half."

Lufthansa expects to operate more than half its scheduled flights on 12-13 March despite planned industrial action by pilots. German union Vereinigung Cockpit has called two days of strike action at Lufthansa's mainline and cargo divisions, and one at the carrier's CityLine subsidiary (on 12 March). Lufthansa says numerous flights at its Frankfurt and Munich hubs will be operated by other group carriers or external partners, and that larger aircraft will be used on affected routes. It predicts that 60% of its long-haul flights will be operated, and more than 80% of cargo services. Vereinigung Cockpit says it has exempted flights to the Middle East from the strike action because of the conflict in the region. However, Lufthansa notes that the exemption affects only one planned flight, to Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh from Frankfurt on 12 March. The dispute between the airline and union relates to Lufthansa's company pension scheme for mainline and cargo pilots and to pay for CityLine pilots. Michael Niggemann, Lufthansa's executive board member for human resources and legal affairs, describes Vereinigung Cockpit's strike plan as "completely incomprehensible... especially not at a time when we are experiencing a new level of geopolitical uncertainty with the war in Iran and passengers worldwide are affected". He argues that the pension scheme "guarantees very good retirement security both in an internal comparison within Lufthansa Group and with other airlines, industries and companies", adding: "Given the low margin at Lufthansa Classic [mainline], which in itself would not allow for investment in new aircraft, there is no scope for further increases. Strikes will not change this... "Instead of further worsening the development opportunities for Lufthansa Classic through strikes, we should rather enter into discussions about modernisation and the future size of the fleet, which will have a direct and immediate impact on the career prospects of pilots."