Austrian Airlines has taken delivery of its first Airbus A320neo from the airframer's Toulouse assembly line. The Pratt & Whitney PW1124G-powered twinjet, registered OE-LZN, arrived at Vienna airport on 13 September and was handed over to Austrian Technik for cabin interior work and painting over coming weeks, the Lufthansa group carrier says. Its first commercial flight is planned for mid-October. Delivery of Austrian's second A320neo is scheduled for October and of two additional units by spring 2023. The aircraft are part of a Lufthansa order, Austrian notes. It will operate the aircraft primarily on continental routes. Chief operating officer Francesco Sciortino describes the delivery as "an important step towards more climate-friendly air traffic". Data show that Austrian has 29 CFM International CFM56-powered A320s, six A321s, and one A319 listed as being in storage. Its fleet additionally includes 17 Embraer 195s, six Boeing 777-200ERs and three 767-300ERs.

LATAM Airlines Group carried 5.72 million passengers across its network in August, a figure up 50% year on year but down 10% versus the same month in 2019. Capacity, as measured in available seat-kilometers, was boosted by 65% year on year but was down 18% versus 2019 level, the Chile-based group says. Revenue passenger-kilometers grew 81% year on year but fell 19% compared with August 2019. Passenger load factor, at 83%, increased by eight percentage points year on year but decreased by one percentage point compared with 2019. Cargo capacity, as measured in available freight tonne-kilometres, was up by 41% year on year and 5% compared to 2019 level, while revenue freight tonne-kilometres grew by 27% year on year and 8% compared with August 2019. Cargo load factor reached 56%, a decrease of six percentage points year on year but up one percentage point from August 2019. LATAM expects September capacity to reach 81% of its capacity in pre-pandemic September 2019. It plans to operate approximately 1,290 daily domestic and international flights during September to 142 destinations in 22 countries and more than 1,270 cargo freighter flights.

Boeing during August increased the pace of deliveries to 35 aircraft as the US Federal Aviation Administration allowed 787 shipments to resume following a halt that lasted 15 months. The airframer reported 35 aircraft deliveries in August, up from a five-month low of 26 in July. Lufthansa and Air France-KLM Group each took delivery of one 787 in August. American Airlines during that month also received a new 787 from Boeing’s factory in South Carolina through BOC Aviation. Boeing also delivered 27 737 Max aircraft to customers during August. Eight Max aircraft delivered to Southwest Airlines made it the largest single recipient in August, followed by three Max deliveries each to Air Lease, Alaska Airlines, and United Airlines. Gross aircraft orders rose to 30 during August, including 13 Max jets. These new sales were lower compared with the 130 gross aircraft ordered by customers in July and 50 aircraft during June. American Airlines ordered two Max aircraft while unidentified customers ordered 11 additional Max jets. UPS ordered eight 767-300 freighters in August to expand its cargo fleet. AerCap ordered five 787-9 widebody aircraft that month while BDS Israel International Tanker ordered four 767-2C tanker aircraft. Increasing the rate of deliveries is a key goal for Boeing to match its ambitions to accelerate aircraft production while staying ahead of demand recovery. Boeing in July estimated it had 120 787 aircraft parked that needed to be shipped ahead of the FAA lifting a delivery ban on that type in August after more than a year of manufacturing reviews. United chief executive Scott Kirby said on 21 July during an earnings call that Boeing’s aircraft delivery rate posed the greatest risk to the mainline carrier’s capacity plan for 2023. Boeing has booked 446 gross orders so far during 2022. The company’s net aircraft tally of order cancellations and conversions stands at 338 aircraft, factoring in also the uncertainty of fulfilment.