Irish lessor Avolon has delivered 15 Airbus A320neos to Indian carrier Vistara. "We are delighted to have completed this delivery of 15 fuel efficient new technology aircraft to Vistara. The rapidly growing Indian aviation market is benefitting from Vistara's continued success and we welcome the opportunity to have supported this expansion of their A320neo fleet," Avolon's president and chief commercial officer Paul Geaney says. In November 2022, Singapore Airlines and India's Tata Sons agreed to merge their joint venture airline Vistara with Air India, owned by Tata Group. They aim to complete the Vistara-Air India merger by March 2024, subject to regulatory approvals.

An Airbus A330 operated by Saudi Arabian flag carrier Saudia and a Boeing 737 from the fleet of Ukrainian charter airline SkyUp have been damaged amid fighting in the Sudanese capital Khartoum. Saudia says the A330 was "exposed to gunfire damage" while being prepared for a scheduled departure to Riyadh (flight number SV458). All passengers and crew are now being sheltered at the Saudi embassy in Sudan, adds the airline. Fleets data lists the aircraft, a 2017-built A330-341E with registration HZ-AQ30, as "written off" and a "total loss" following the incident on 15 April. The SkyUp aircraft is listed as a 2004-built 737-800 with registration UR-SQH, owned by Air Lease Corporation. It was being operated under an ACMI contract for Sudanese carrier Sun Air Aviation, on routes to Cairo, Riyadh and Jeddah, since the start of this year. SkyUp says the emergency locator transmitter (ELT) on one of the two aircraft in its fleet currently at Khartoum airport has been activated, but "as of now, it is impossible to determine the possible damage to the aircraft". It adds that 36 SkyUp employees in the country are in "relatively safe conditions".

The European Commission has launched an in-depth investigation into whether financial support provided by the Romanian government to local airline Blue Air violated EU state-aid rules. The interventions by the Romanian authorities date back to 2020, as the airline industry was roiled by the Covid-19 pandemic. In August of that year, the Commission approved two measures in favour of Blue Air: a public guarantee of around €28 million to compensate for the damages caused by the pandemic and travel restrictions, and a €34 million public guarantee on a rescue loan to partly cover the airline's liquidity needs for the following six months. In April 2021, Romania presented a restructuring plan for Blue Air to the Commission. This was later updated and included a six-year extension of the guarantee on the rescue loan, enabling repayment until 2026. In November 2022, Romania reimbursed the loan and took a 75% shareholding in the airline. That same month, Romanian authorities temporarily suspended Blue Air's operating license citing its financial condition, and it ceased trading. "At this stage, the Commission has concerns that the restructuring plan and the aid measures implemented to support this plan are not line with EU state-aid rules, in particular with the guidelines on recue and restructuring aid," says the Commission. Its investigation will look at whether the plan can restore Blue Air's long-term viability without continued state aid, whether the airline's own or market contributions to restructuring costs are sufficient, and whether appropriate measures are in place to limit competition distortions. EU state-aid rules allow countries to assist companies in difficulty, but only under certain conditions. Aid may be granted for up to six months, and restructuring aid "must ensure that the viability of the company can be restored without continued state support, that the company contributes sufficiently to the costs of its restructuring and that distortions of competition created by the aid are addressed through compensatory measures". Previous to its collapse in November 2022, Blue Air held a roughly 20% market share in Romania with a fleet of 18 Boeing 737s.