Middle Eastern airline capacity remains significantly below pre-conflict levels, with weekly departing seats down 24% year-on-year, reflecting the ongoing impact of the Iran conflict on regional air travel. While some airlines, such as Etihad and Royal Jordanian, have increased capacity in an effort to capture market share, major carriers including Saudia, Emirates and Qatar Airways continue to operate reduced schedules, and several international airlines have yet to resume services to the region. Although capacity is expected to gradually recover through the third quarter, industry experts caution that passenger demand may take much longer to return as travel patterns and customer behaviour have already shifted. However, IATA believes the disruption is temporary and that Gulf carriers will ultimately regain their position as key global transit hubs between Europe and Asia, with no permanent structural change to the region's airline business model.

Lufthansa is accelerating its global growth strategy in 2026 through the expansion of its long-haul network across the United States, South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Malaysia, Brazil, Colombia and other key international markets. The airline is increasing capacity and introducing new services to meet growing demand for both business and leisure travel while strengthening its position as a leading global hub carrier.
Key growth markets include the United States, with expanded services to destinations such as St. Louis, Houston, Denver, Atlanta, Detroit, Raleigh/Durham and Washington; Africa, with increased connectivity to South Africa (Johannesburg and Cape Town), Kenya (Nairobi) and Nigeria (Lagos); Asia, with the launch of a new route to Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur) and continued growth in Singapore, South Korea and India; and South America, with expanded services to Brazil (São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro) and Colombia (Bogotá).
This strategic expansion reflects Lufthansa's confidence in sustained global travel demand and its commitment to enhancing connectivity between Europe and key economic and tourism centres worldwide.

Maintenance provider Boeing Shanghai Aviation Services has formally opened a new facility at Shanghai Pudong International airport in China. Designed to accommodate four widebodies and two single-aisles, the newly constructed hangar became operational in April, says the Shanghai Airport Authority, which jointly owns Boeing Shanghai Aviation Services alongside the US airframer and China Eastern Airlines. The hangar replaces the Pudong site from which Boeing Shanghai previously operated, the company says in a video posted on LinkedIn. At a groundbreaking ceremony in June 2024, Boeing Shanghai said the new facility would enhance both hangar utilisation and overall production capacity. Construction was completed in December 2025. Established in 2006, Boeing Shanghai supports 737s, 747s, 767s, 777s, 787s and Airbus A330ceos, its website indicates. Its service range spans aircraft maintenance and modifications, component repairs, engineering services, and supply-chain management. The company additionally completes 737 passenger-to-freighter conversions, as part of Boeing's P2F programme, for aircraft operating under the rule of the Civil Aviation Administration of China. Cirium Ground Events analytics list base-maintenance checks of 30 aircraft at Boeing Shanghai since June 2024. These aircraft comprise 23 787s, four 777s, two 737s and one 767. The largest customer by the number of checks was Virgin Atlantic Airways, with seven, followed by Shanghai Airlines with six and Royal Brunei Airlines with four – all for 787s. Three 777 checks were conducted for China Eastern and three 787 ones for its subsidiary China Eastern Airlines Yunnan.