Morocco's Royal Air Maroc plans to increase its fleet size from around 50 aircraft to 200 by 2037, as part of an agreement with the national government. An "investment programme par excellence" signed by Royal Air Maroc chief executive Hamid Addou and Moroccan Prime minster Aziz Akhannouch on 12 July is intended to enable the airline to "play its full role on the African continent" and support the national tourism strategy, says the government. Addou expects that the contract will give the airline "a new lease of life, a new ambition and a new direction". He adds: "This is a historic day for RAM and a very important moment in the history of this airline, which was created 65 years ago." Annual monitoring will be carried out to ascertain the project's progress of this project. The contract is part of the government's support for its 2023-26 strategic roadmap to bolster tourism numbers and earnings, which it predicts will lead to the creation of 80,000 direct and 120,000 indirect jobs.

Turkish low-cost airline Pegasus has placed a firm order for 36 additional Airbus A321neos. The agreement is an amendment to the airline's original order for Airbus aircraft in 2012, later altered for additional units in 2017, 2021 and 2022, for a total of 114 aircraft, the airline states in a stock market disclosure. Pegasus currently has 87 Airbus A320-family units in its fleet, data shows, as well as 15 Boeing 737s. It will receive new Airbus aircraft from its previous agreements up to 2026, with 10 arriving this year, 24 next and 11 in 2025. The latest order will then supply the carrier until the end of 2029. New aircraft are required to fulfil its aggressive expansion plan as it seeks to meet demand for inbound tourism to Turkey and cater for the country's large domestic market. As part of this a second runway and terminal is being developed at Pegasus's main hub of Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen, which the carrier plans to utilise "to the maximum", chief executive Guliz Ozturk said last month.

Boeing is leading a joint research project with UK partners to explore composite manufacturing technologies to enable higher aircraft production rates. The project, named isothermic high-rate sustainable structures (IHSS), will concentrate on dry fibre and resin infusion manufacturing methods and be based at a new facility dubbed Compass (composites at speed and scale), at the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Centre (AMRC), Boeing says. The US airframer established AMRC with the university in 2001 and subsequently opened a component manufacturing facility in Sheffield. Spirit AeroSystems' plant in Prestwick and Dorchester-based industrial automation specialist Loop Technology are additional partners in the IHSS effort, which is backed by the UK government via the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI). The Treasury says the project represents an £80 million ($105 million) investment and will be the first of 12 zones across the UK that will receive support to boost advanced manufacturing, life sciences, green industries, technology and the creative sector. Each one the investment zones will involve a university and be supported with £80 million, the Treasury adds. Boeing predicts the IHSS project will initially generate 50 jobs and "has the potential to create 3,000 UK jobs long-term and around £2 billion annually in export opportunities". AMRC chief executive Steve Foxley states: "Building on the long-standing partnership with Boeing, Compass offers a step-change in large scale composite material capability and will continue to transform the UK manufacturing industry for a more sustainable and resilient tomorrow." Spirit highlights that IHSS represents its first research and technology collaboration with Boeing in the UK. The US aerostructures company's Prestwick facility will contribute stringer preform fabrication and inspection technologies to the project. In 2020, Spirit acquired from Bombardier aerostructures manufacturing sites in Belfast, Moroccan city Casablanca and Dallas in the USA. The Belfast site produces composite wings for the Airbus A220 programme.