Members of German pilot union Vereinigung Cockpit have approved a collective bargaining agreement with Lufthansa Group, covering pay and working conditions into the second half of the decade. Under the agreement, basic pay will rise 18% over the next three and a half years for pilots at Lufthansa's mainline operation and Lufthansa Cargo, says the airline group. The deal on remuneration will run until the end of 2026, while the working conditions specified in the bargaining agreement expire a year later. Members of Vereinigung Cockpit approved the outcome of the negotiations in votes between 3 and 10 August, with 94.7% of those eligible taking part and 65.5% voting in favour, says the union. "I am pleased that our members have agreed to the negotiated collective bargaining agreement," states union president Stefan Herth. "After a year and a half of negotiations, we have reached a compromise. Today's acceptance of the collective agreement creates reliability for the pilots, Lufthansa and, last but not least, our passengers. "Building on this, we can now focus on challenges for Lufthansa Group and continue to work on the urgent improvement of the social partnership." Lufthansa Group's labour director Michael Niggemann says the deal will create additional operational stability and improve reliability for customers. "From an economic perspective, it is not easy for us to conclude a deal," he adds. "However, the long term creates planning security for Lufthansa Airline in the coming years, especially for the intended growth on long-haul routes. In addition, the collective agreement peacefully reached at the negotiating table strengthens the social partnership." As well as pay rises in stages through the lifetime of the agreement, pilots have secured improvements in variable remuneration based on the success of the company; more predictable free time and roster stability, including the fixing of 10 days off per month; and further growth through the absorption of former Germanwings pilots into Lufthansa. Both agreements remain subject to "editorial implementation and the approval of the responsible committees", Lufthansa notes.

South Korea's Jin Air plans to reinstate flights from Busan to Okinawa in Japan on 29 October, after a hiatus of nearly three years. A daily service will be operated on the route using 180-seater Boeing 737s, says Jin Air. It will be the sole carrier flying on the Busan-Okinawa route. Fleets data shows that Jin Air has 23 737s in service: 22 NGs and a single Max. Its fleet also includes four 777s.

The US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has added new sanctions on Belarusian flag carrier Belavia and a Misnk-based aircraft component and repair company. OFAC says in a 9 August press release it is designating Belavia for "being owned or controlled by, or for having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly" the government of Belarus. It identifies an MHI RJ CRJ-200ER operated by Belavia, which aircraft it says is used by "high-ranking officials" and family members of the "US-sanctioned regime leader, Alyaksandr Lukashenka". OFAC is also designating Minsk Civil Aviation Plant 407, which is described as a state-owned company and one of the biggest aircraft component manufacturer and repair facilities in Belarus. "In a February 2023 meeting between Lukashenka and US-sanctioned president of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, Minsk Civil Aviation Plant 407 was highlighted as a key facility for Belarusian production to meet Russia's civil and military aircraft demand," OFAC says. The new designations were announced alongside a slew of non-aviation-related sanctions OFAC says target "entities involved in the Belarusian regime's continued civil society repression, complicity in the Russian Federation's unjustified war in Ukraine, and enrichment of repressive Belarusian regime leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka". OFAC recaps that following the 23 May 2021 diversion of Ryanair Flight 4978 to arrest a political activist, the US Department of Transportation issued Order 2021-7-1 to prohibit ticket sales and interline passage with the US. It adds that the European Union simultaneously revoked Belavia's access to member states' airspace and airports, and that the airline was previously designated by the EU on 2 December 2021 for "instructing employees not to protest against the fraudulent election and for opening new routes to facilitate unauthorised migration from several countries in the Middle East to the EU".