Airbus and South American carrier LATAM Airlines Group have co-operated on a sustainable aviation fuel-powered delivery flight of an A320neo from the airframer's base in Toulouse, France to Fortaleza, Brazil. The flight's fuel supply was 30% SAF produced from cooking oil, LATAM notes. LATAM expects to have 31 A320neo-family aircraft in operation by the end of 2023, and more than 100 in operation by the end of this decade. The aircraft type is a centrepiece of the group's sustainability objectives. "[The delivery flight] is a joint effort between LATAM and Airbus and represents one of our most concrete advances in the group's agenda regarding the use of SAF," states LATAM's finance chief Ramiro Alfonsín. He adds: "Today the amounts of SAF available worldwide are very limited, and access to this type of fuel in South America continues to be one of the great challenges facing the decarbonisation of the industry."

Morocco's Royal Air Maroc plans to increase its fleet size from around 50 aircraft to 200 by 2037, as part of an agreement with the national government. An "investment programme par excellence" signed by Royal Air Maroc chief executive Hamid Addou and Moroccan Prime minster Aziz Akhannouch on 12 July is intended to enable the airline to "play its full role on the African continent" and support the national tourism strategy, says the government. Addou expects that the contract will give the airline "a new lease of life, a new ambition and a new direction". He adds: "This is a historic day for RAM and a very important moment in the history of this airline, which was created 65 years ago." Annual monitoring will be carried out to ascertain the project's progress of this project. The contract is part of the government's support for its 2023-26 strategic roadmap to bolster tourism numbers and earnings, which it predicts will lead to the creation of 80,000 direct and 120,000 indirect jobs.

Turkish low-cost airline Pegasus has placed a firm order for 36 additional Airbus A321neos. The agreement is an amendment to the airline's original order for Airbus aircraft in 2012, later altered for additional units in 2017, 2021 and 2022, for a total of 114 aircraft, the airline states in a stock market disclosure. Pegasus currently has 87 Airbus A320-family units in its fleet, data shows, as well as 15 Boeing 737s. It will receive new Airbus aircraft from its previous agreements up to 2026, with 10 arriving this year, 24 next and 11 in 2025. The latest order will then supply the carrier until the end of 2029. New aircraft are required to fulfil its aggressive expansion plan as it seeks to meet demand for inbound tourism to Turkey and cater for the country's large domestic market. As part of this a second runway and terminal is being developed at Pegasus's main hub of Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen, which the carrier plans to utilise "to the maximum", chief executive Guliz Ozturk said last month.