Lufthansa has confirmed plans to return the last two of its eight remaining Airbus A380s to service in 2024-25. Like the other six, they will be based in Munich, the airline says in a Twitter post. Lufthansa last month identified the two aircraft in question as D-AIMA and D-AIMB, the first A380s delivered to the German carrier in 2010. They are currently in storage at Teruel airport in Spain. The three A380s reactivated by Lufthansa this year (D-AIMK, D-AIML and D-AIMM), built in 2014-15, are among the youngest in the airline's A380 fleet. The very youngest (D-AIMN, built in 2015) will return to service in October. Two further A380s (D-AIMC and D-AIMH) – delivered in 2010-11 – will be reintegrated next year. Cirium fleets data lists Lufthansa Leasing as owner of D-AIMA, D-AIMC and D-AIMH. The other five are owned directly by the airline. Prior the pandemic, Lufthansa had 14 A380s in service and was the largest European operator of the type. In 2019, it disclosed an agreement with Airbus under which six A380s would be prematurely returned to the airframer by 2023 in exchange for more A350s. Lufthansa's A380s are configured with eight first, 78 business, 52 premium-economy and 371 standard-economy seats. The fleet is powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines.

Budget carrier Flydubai is planning to begin flights to Mombasa in Kenya on 17 January 2024, taking its African network to 11 destinations across 10 countries. The Middle Eastern airline says it will operate four flights a week to Moi International airport. Emirates will codeshare on the route. Flydubai says it will be the first national carrier to operate direct flights from Dubai or the United Arab Emirates to the coastal city in southeastern Kenya. Fleets data shows that Flydubai has 79 Boeing 737s in service, including 46 Max 8s and a trio of Max 9s. It has a further 137 Max jets on order, including 25 Max 10s.

Yakovlev has completed a first flight with a Superjet 100 test aircraft fitted with Russian-made systems to replace equipment previously supplied by Western manufacturers. The new equipment comprises around 40 systems and components across the regional aircraft's avionics, landing gear, auxiliary power unit, integrated control system, power supply, fire protection and air conditioning equipment. This was developed under a programme launched in 2019 "to increase resilience of the economy in the face of sanctions", says the Russian ministry for industry and trade. It notes that the new equipment was developed by aircraft manufacturing and electronic industries that are part of state corporation Rostec's "control loop". The first flight from the assembly line in Komsomolsk-on-Amur was completed on 29 August with a prototype fitted with PowerJet SaM146 engines – the twinjet's original powerplant, previously jointly produced by Russian manufacturer NPO Saturn and Safran – "in order to speed up the test programme on the first prototype", the ministry says. But it adds that a second prototype powered by domestically produced PD-8 engines will begin flight tests "soon", noting that the engine is currently undergoing bench and flight trials on an Ilyushin Il-76LL testbed. During the 54min first flight with the initial domestic Superjet prototype, its crew of two pilots and a flight-test engineer assessed the aircraft's general handling at speeds up to 185kt and altitudes up to 9,800ft. This included a simulated landing at altitude, a landing approach and go-around manoeuvre, and a check of the aircraft's automatic pressure control system. "The stable operation of all domestic systems, the controllability and stability of the aircraft in the air were confirmed," the ministry says. Yuri Slyusar, general director of Yakovlev parent United Aircraft (UAC), describes the domestically sourced Superjet as a "virtually new aircraft" and states: "This is the best demonstration of the technological independence of our country. We proved, first of all to ourselves, that we can develop and produce modern civil aircraft on our own, without the involvement of imported technologies. The next ambitious tasks are to certify the aircraft in a completely Russian appearance and start serial deliveries." UAC deputy general director civil aviation and Yakovlev general director Andrey Boginsky views the new Superjet variant as "embodiment of the advanced developments" of Russia's aviation sector. He acknowledges development, production and operational experience from the Superjet programme under its previous configuration, but stresses the development time for the new equipment. "Four years have passed from the start of the preliminary design to the first flight – given the amount of design work, this is close to a record time, at the level of the world's leading manufacturers." In its original iteration, the Superjet completed its first flight in 2008 and entered service with now-defunct Armenian carrier Armavia. Fleets data lists 163 Superjets as being in service and another 56 in storage. Russian carriers Azimuth Airlines, IrAero, Red Wings Airlines, Aeroflot subsidiary Rossiya Airlines, Yakutia Airlines, Yamal Airlines and an aviation arm of energy supplier Gazprom are among the type's largest operators. UAC's backlog for the Superjet comprises 74 orders, including 47 from Red Wings, eight from Azimuth, eight from eastern Russian carrier Aurora, five from Ilyushin Finance and four from Aeroflot Group.