Taiwanese carrier EVA Air has ordered 18 Airbus A350-1000s and 15 A321neos from the European airframe. In a filing to Taiwan's stock exchange, the airline says the order, approved by its board on 7 November, has a total value that will not exceed $10.1 billion. Unit prices for the A350s and A321neos will not exceed $436 million or $150 million respectively, EVA adds. A350s are powered by Rolls-Royce Trent XWBs, while customers for A320neo-family jets can opt between CFM International Leap-1A and Pratt & Whitney PW1100G engines. Separately, EVA has disclosed that it will extend leases on 12 A321ceos with BOC Aviation. The airline says the "total right-of-use asset amount" is NT$5.3 billion ($165 million). Fleets data shows that EVA has 19 CFM International CFM56-powered A321s, including 12 on lease from BOC Aviation. Another two are managed by Bocomm Leasing, two by Jackson Square Aviation, and one each by AerCap, SMBC Aviation Capital and Merx Aviation. Aged between seven and nine years, the BOC Aviation-managed aircraft are the youngest A321s in EVA Air's fleet. The oldest is 10 years old. EVA's fleet additionally includes 12 GE Aerospace CF6-powered A330s, 13 787s with GEnx-1Bs, 34 Boeing 777-300ERs, and eight 777 Freighters. GE90 engines exclusively power 777-300ERs and 777Fs. The carrier has another 13 787s and one 777F on order.

The US Department of Transportation has approved complaints from JetBlue and Airlines for America (A4A) against the Dutch government and European Union in relation to flight curtailments at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport (AMS) related to noise and emissions. "The department finds that, because the Netherlands has failed to follow the balanced approach, the phase 1 capacity reduction measures being undertaken at AMS constitute unjustifiable and unreasonable activities under IATFCPA, and are in violation of the of the US- EU Air Transport Agreement," it states in a 2 November filing, referring to the International Air Transportation Fair Competitive Practices Act of 1974. The DOT says it will require Dutch carriers – namely, KLM, Martinair, and TUI Airlines Nederland – to file schedules for all of their services to and from the United States. New York-based JetBlue joined an earlier complaint against the Dutch government and European Union lodged on 22 September by trade group A4A, and later lodged its own complaint because it feared losing the ability to serve Schiphol altogether, and thought the DOT should take action sooner. JetBlue noted that it is "uniquely situated among US carriers because it faces actual expulsion from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol at the end of the winter 2023/2024 scheduling season". The DOT said at the time it was considering the complaints. On 2 November the department said it had raised "significant concerns and objections" to the Dutch government’s methodology for implementing noise reduction plans at Schiphol and argues the Dutch side has "yet to put forward any persuasive argument" that its actions are in conformity with the US-EU Air Transport Agreement. The department goes on to say that it remains concerned that opportunities for new entrants to operate at Schiphol will be precluded. "Indeed, we find particularly alarming that JetBlue, a relative new entrant at AMS, has been notified that it will receive no slots for the summer 2024 season," the DOT says. "While we are careful to not conflate slots with traffic rights under the US-EU Agreement, we are deeply troubled by the notion that new entrants will be completely foreclosed from slot access at AMS, without any secondary or alternative means to obtain access at AMS, particularly if those alternative options are precluded on a basis that is discriminatory toward unaligned or unaffiliated carriers." The DOT will consult with the Dutch government and European Commission on 13 November. "It is our hope that these consultations will result in meaningful progress towards resolution, without our needing to pursue further regulatory action," it says. "However, should consultations fail to produce a meaningful path toward resolving this matter in a timely and satisfactory fashion, the department stands ready to consider any further action that may be appropriate."

A combination of consolidation, OEM production delays and problems with the Pratt & Whitney geared turbofan engines will constrain Europe's capacity to regain pre-Covid levels of flight activity in 2024, in the view of Ryanair group chief executive Michael O'Leary. Briefing analysts on 6 November, O'Leary said the trio of issues facing the European airline industry meant it was unlikely that intra-European capacity would get above the 94% of pre-Covid levels, where it now stood, until as late as 2026. O'Leary believes Airbus and Boeing are unable to accelerate production of new aircraft and remain "materially behind" in terms of deliveries. Boeing is contracted to deliver 57 737 Max jets to Ryanair between now and the end of April, but O'Leary expects production delays to cut that figure down by around 10. "We are not sure that they will deliver all 57, but we are certainly confident we will get 45 to 50 of those by the end of June," he says. O'Leary describes issues with Pratt & Whitney geared turbofan engines as representing a "large and not well-factored-into capacity story" for summer 2024 in Europe. He suggests that Ryanair's rivals could see 5-10% of their fleet capacity taken out by the issues, and that Wizz Air may be even more exposed. Neal McMahon, Ryanair's chief operations officer, foresees that the lack of MRO capacity in Europe will cause groundings. "We expect there to be material groundings of competitor capacity through the summer of 2024, and we think that will roll into 2025 as well, due to the pressure on engine shops," he says. McMahon says this will push up engine leasing costs due to scarcity. He also expects winter turnaround times for engines to be "significantly slower" and to materially impact capacity in 2024. O'Leary sees events such as Lufthansa's progress in acquiring ITA Airways, Air France-KLM's recent investment in SAS and interest from airlines in acquiring TAP Air Portugal as evidence of continuing consolidation in Europe. He posits that the continent is "inexorably moving" towards having four large airline groups. This, along with OEM production problems and the GTF issues, will help to keep capacity constrained in Europe and will continue to buttress strong pricing achieved by Ryanair and its rivals, he adds. McMahon adds: "We see very little prospect of Europe returning to its pre-Covid capacity between 2024 and 2026 and we think therefore that will continue to underpin strong pricing, even if consumer demand is challenged."