Turkish Airlines has agreed to purchase a total of 10 Airbus A350-900s, in line with its growth targets. The aircraft are expected to be delivered annually between 2025 and 2027, the carrier states a public disclosure. Fleets data shows Turkish Airlines has an in-service and stored fleet of 378 aircraft, including 14 A350-900s. It already has order for another 12 examples and five on option.

Ryanair Group has revealed that it was forced to axe 350 services to or from the UK on 28 and 29 August because of an air traffic control outage, which affected 63,000 passengers. The disruption to the UK’s NATS, which the airspace manager blames on a faulty data point submitted by an airline which crashed the system, “has still not been explained,” comments Ryanair. In late August Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary said that the outage was “not acceptable” and criticised the inability of the organisation’s backup system to take over the running of UK airspace. Ryanair also revealed that passenger numbers in August were up 11% to 18.9 million, making it the busiest month in the airline’s history. Load factor was unchanged on last year at 96%. Rolling 12-month passenger figures stand at 177.4 million passengers through August, up by a fifth on 2022.

A subsidies programme to offset interest rates on loans that leasing companies arrange for the purchase of Russian aircraft is being extended. A decree prolonging the programme, in place since 2008, until the end of 2023 was signed by Russian prime minister Mikhail Mishustin on 31 August. The programme spans 20 different aircraft types, including the Sukhoi Superjet. In late August, a Superjet fitted with Russian-made systems to replace equipment previously supplied by Western manufacturers was flown. The government has also announced plans to reform the rules for granting subsidies from the federal budget to expand production of Irkut MS-21 aircraft.