London City airport has applied to the UK Civil Aviation Authority to be certificated for Airbus A320neo operations with a new required navigation performance procedure. If approved, the instrument-based RNP AR (authorisation required) procedure would "alter the approach angle" for A320neos flying to the downtown gateway, its operator says. It notes that aircraft currently operating at London City must be approved for steep approach to the airport's relatively short 1,500m runway, with up to a 5.5-degree rather than standard 3-degree approach angle. The largest aircraft currently cleared for that approach are the 148-seat Embraer E195-E2 and 135-seat Airbus A220-100. Prior the pandemic, British Airways operated A318s with an all-business class cabin between London City and New York JFK. Flights to the US city required a stop in Shannon in Ireland. For the 180-seat A320neo, London City cites a range of "over 1,000km" (540nm) which will enable flights to "large parts of mainland Europe". Airbus specifies the A320neo's range at 3,400nm. The European airframer did not respond to enquiries about potential payload and range restrictions for the narrowbody at London City. "We welcome the application by London City airport to enable [A320neos] to land at this key location and we are supporting as needed," Airbus says. Approval for A320neo operation will enable London City to reach its permitted passenger capacity with fewer flights and open new routes, says the airport. In August 2024, the UK Government approved London City's plan to increase its annual passenger cap from 6.5 million to 9 million by 2031. This included no increase to the permitted number of annual flights and no new infrastructure, the airport notes.

Emirates will reinstate services from Dubai to Beirut and Baghdad from 1 February. The UAE carrier says flights to Rafic Al Hariri International airport in Lebanon will be operated daily using Boeing 777-300ERs. A second daily service to Beirut will be added from 1 April. It adds that daily flights to Baghdad will be operated using 777 aircraft.

Oman Air has reported an EBITDA loss of OR24 million ($62 million) for 2024 as it begins to see the results from a planned widescale transformation of its business. The figure represents a 40% improvement on 2023, and the Middle Eastern airline attributes this to its strategy of focusing on the most profitable connections and retiring older aircraft in favour of latest-generation jets. During the year, it slashed its headcount by a quarter to save OR18 million and paid down OR45 million in "long overdue" debts without having to borrow, it adds. "Overall revenue quality was significantly enhanced, attributed to the comprehensive study undertaken to modernise the fleet and network, emphasising the focus on point-to-point traffic," says the airline. Point-to-point traffic generated 40% of revenues last year, compared with 27% in 2019. Load factor rose by a percentage point to 75%, which is four percentage points below 2019. Passenger numbers, however, fell 13% and were 44% below 2019's. Chief executive Con Korfiatis, who joined from Saudi low-cost Flyadeal in May, said during a Future Skies podcast hosted by insurer AIG in June that there was "no stone that we are going to leave unturned" in his bid to remodel Oman Air, which has struggled financially in recent years. He explained that he was planning a "far deeper dive" into reform than had already happened, and that this would include digitisation, the reviewing of contracts, fleet simplification and product modifications. This, he added, represented a "multi-year" effort to renew Oman Air and "transform the airline into one that's much more commercially focused". Oman Air had previously launched a restructuring plan in September 2019, aiming to deliver sustainable profits following a loss of OR160 million in 2017. The airline's recent financial performance up to 2023 and its levels of debt have not been published.