Air Algerie is seeking to lease 10 aircraft in addition to the 15 new jets it plans to buy from Airbus and Boeing. The North African carrier has issued a request for proposals to dry-lease four General Electric-powered Airbus A330-200/300s, two A330-900s, two Boeing 737-800s and two 737 Max 9s. This follows an earlier RFP from the carrier to purchase 15 new aircraft. This resulted in an agreement earlier this month to acquire eight Max 9s from Boeing, with deliveries scheduled to begin in 2027. Air Algerie has also signalled that it intends to buy five A330-900s and two A350-1000s from Airbus, although this agreement has yet to be signed. Fleets data shows that Air Algerie has a fleet of 51 aircraft in service and five in storage. These are primarily Boeing 737NGs and ATR turboprops. It also operates eight A330-200s.

Lufthansa Group has signed a contract for four additional Airbus A350-900s, which will be acquired from asset manager Deucalion Aviation. The widebodies will be delivered later this year, says the German airline group. Lufthansa currently operates 21 A350-900s, and in March ordered five more A350-900s and 10 A350-1000s. The group says it holds a total of 38 firm orders for the A350, making it the long-haul aircraft type's third-largest customer.

Ryanair swung to a full-year net profit of €1.43 billion ($1.55 billion) in fiscal 2023, and is "cautiously optimistic" that strong demand will help it offset rising fuel costs and deliver a "modest" profit increase in fiscal 2024. The carrier's net profit for the 12 months ended 31 March compares with a €355 million net loss the previous year. The airline made a fourth-quarter net loss of €154 million. Revenue in fiscal 2023 more than doubled to €10.8 billion as passenger numbers increased 74% to 169 million. Ryanair's full-year load factor improved by 11 percentage points to 93%. Operating costs rose 75% to €9.2 billion. Ryanair expects its fuel bill in fiscal 2024 to be €1 billion higher, but declares itself "cautiously optimistic" that revenue will "grow sufficiently" to cover the increased cost and enable it to deliver a "modest year-on-year profit increase". The carrier says it will be up to 10 aircraft short in the peak summer months of June and July, as a result of Boeing's delivery disruptions. "To facilitate Boeing and to assist their resumption of scheduled [737 Max 8-200] deliveries this autumn, we will take delivery of aircraft through July and possibly into August," says Ryanair. "We hope and expect that Boeing will recover quickly from this recent delay to minimise its impact on our FY24 traffic growth and profitability." Earlier this month, Ryanair signed an agreement to purchase up to 300 Max 10s – 150 firm orders and 150 options – for delivery between 2027 and 2033. Half the order will be used to replace older 737s and the remainder will "facilitate disciplined traffic growth" to about 300 million a year by FY34 – 80% more passengers than it carried in FY23. This year, Ryanair hopes to grow traffic by 10% to 185 million, although it cautions that "Boeing's recent delivery delays may push some of this growth into the lower-yielding H2 and may reduce this target slightly".