Hyundai Motor Group's advanced air mobility unit Supernal has partnered with Korean Air to accelerate the development of electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft in Korea. The deal was signed on 16 October at the Seoul ADEX aerospace and defence exposition, and will see the two companies exchange technical data, participate in workshops, and jointly test Supernal's infrastructure networks. KAL will provide input on market requirements and aircraft specifications. The partnership is significant due to Korea's plans to leverage 5G and LTE mobile communication capabilities to share information among pilots, as well as creating dedicated AAM corridors that will separate those vehicles from other low-level airspace users like helicopters. Supernal says it plans to develop a comprehensive global AAM ecosystem that includes aftermarket products and services supporting eVTOL vehicles after purchase. US-based Supernal aims to begin flights with an eVTOL demonstrator in 2024 and to certificate its eVTOL in time to launch revenue passenger flights in the USA by 2028.

Air France has disclosed that is withdrawing from Paris Orly airport following a “structural fall” in demand within the carrier's domestic point-to-point network. The airline's Orly operations will be switched to Paris Charles de Gaulle by summer 2026, with the exception of a public service obligation (PSO) connection to Corsica which will continue to be operated from Orly. Transavia, Air France-KLM's low-cost unit, will step up operations to become the group's "reference operator" at Orly, adding Toulouse, Marseille and Nice to its network from summer 2026, destinations currently served by Air France from the Parisian gateway. It is unclear whether Transavia will directly take over Air France's vacated slots. "Transavia would stay the course of its development, namely thanks to its growing fleet of new Airbus A320neo-family aircraft," says Air France. The airline attributes its pullback from Orly to a rise in videoconferencing, a fall in domestic business travel, and a shift towards greater rail use. Between 2019 and 2023, domestic traffic out of Orly fell 40%, rising to a 60% decline for day return trips. "The initiative as a whole would help Air France maintain a strong brand presence in all the markets it serves, and be more responsive to rapidly changing travel demand," adds the carrier. "It would optimise the use of each airline's resources, make the offer clearer for customers and improve Air France's competitiveness." As the changes are introduced, Air France will increase its services from CDG to Toulouse, Marseille, Nice, Pointe-a-Pitre, Fort-de-France and Saint-Denis de La Reunion, bolstering its international connections and improving its links to France's regions and overseas territories. Once complete, Air France-KLM's capacity between Paris and Toulouse, Marseille and Nice will stand at 90% of its current level, and at 100% for routes between Paris and France's overseas territories. The carrier is talking with unions about the plans, which it says will have a limited impact on staff, with no forced dismissals. Data shows that Air France currently serves 14 destinations from Orly, seven of them domestic, four African and three Latin American. The airline accounts for 11% of the airport's seats and ASKs this month. Transavia France operates to 105 destinations from Orly, accounting to 34% of Orly's seats and 27% of its available seat-kilometres. Earlier this year, France enacted a domestic flight ban on routes of 2.5h or less where a viable rail or bus option exists. However, analysis by IATA indicated that this applied to only three routes – all from Orly – amounting to 0.3% of the country's airline emissions.

Air Nostrum and CityJet have created a regional alliance, four years after a proposed link-up between the two companies was first cleared by European regulators. The two airlines plus Ireland-based wet-lease specialist Hibernian have created a holding company named the Strategic Alliance of Regional Airlines (SARA), Air Nostrum revealed as part of its annual results. SARA also includes an aircraft maintenance company, training centre and four other aviation service providers. Air Nostrum is franchised to fly for Iberia under the Iberia Regional brand, connecting to 59 destinations with a fleet of 48 aircraft – most of them Bombardier-built CRJs. CityJet is an Ireland-based wet lease specialist that flies on behalf of airlines such as SAS and Lufthansa, operating around 25 CRJ aircraft, according to its website. Hibernian Airlines operates three CRJ1000s for wet lease and charter, according to the European Reginal Airlines Association. Described as a “strategic union” between the companies, SARA will form the largest group of reginal airlines Europe, Air Nostrum says. It represents a looser arrangement than was first mooted back in 2019 when EU competition authorities approved a joint venture between CityJet owner Fortress Investment Group and Air Nostrum’s owner, Air Investment Valencia, a deal that would have seen the two company’s activities combined. Implementation of that proposal was delayed because of the pandemic, but competition authorities then approved it again in March, noting that although the two firms operated in the same area, as their market shares are relatively small there would be no negative impact on competitiveness. "SARA will act as a holding company, assisting and coordinating each of the alliance companies, which will continue to be independent entities, with a brand and own structures,” explains Air Nostrum managing director Carlos Bertomeu. Each of the companies linked to SARA will continue to have its headquarters in their own country and with their own employees, as in the past, he adds. Each member of the alliance will need to meet its own financial obligations and there will be no transfer of funds between them, the airline adds. Air Nostrum reported a pre-tax profit of €19.6 million ($20.1 million) for 2022 on revenue of €494.2 million, marking a return to profitability following two years of losses. “The strong increase in turnover is has been due to the high demand registered since the second quarter of 2022,” it states, noting that it is in the process of paying back Covid-era state support. Passenger numbers rose to 4.4 million from 2.9 million in 2021.