The US Department of Transportation (DOT) has raised the quota for Chinese carriers operating passenger flights for to the USA to 12 weekly roundtrips. The increased quota "will be equivalent to the total number of flights permitted by the PRC [People's Republic of China] aviation authorities for US carriers", DOT says in a statement provided on 3 May. The agency adds that it will "continue to assess how and when to further modify its posture towards PRC carrier flights in a manner that offers a competitive operating environment for the air carriers in the US." It highlights that American Airlines, Delta and United Airlines, which currently operate flights between the USA and China, are each approved to operate four weekly roundtrip flights. On 10 March the USA scrapped its Covid testing requirement for travellers departing from China, which were imposed in January amid a spike of Covid-19 infections in the country. Schedules data shows that Chinese carriers currently operating passenger flights to the USA – Air China, China Southern, Xiamen Airlines and China Eastern – have barely cracked double-digit weekly roundtrip flights since April 2020. The data shows that three years on, in April 2023, the same four Chinese carriers flew a total of eight weekly roundtrips, a similar level to the three US carriers, which together operated 10 weekly roundtrip flights to and from Shanghai Pudong International airport. These flights are just a fraction of the 222 and 133 roundtrip flights operated by Chinese and US carriers, respectively, in April 2019. In April, United Airlines had scheduled a four-times weekly service to San Francisco, Delta twice weekly each to Detroit and Seattle, and American Airlines to Dallas/Fort Worth. China Eastern operated a twice weekly service on Shanghai-New York JFK; Xiamen Airlines twice weekly between Los Angeles and Xiamen; China Southern weekly between Guangzhou, and Los Angeles and New York JFK; and Air China, from Beijing and Shenzhen to Los Angeles.

Ryanair has agreed an memorandum of understanding with Spanish energy group Repsol to purchase up to 52 million gallons of sustainable aviation fuel between 2025 and 2030. The agreement, which will bring the airline closer to its goal of powering 12.5% of its flights with SAF by 2030, is equivalent to over 28,000 flights from Dublin to Madrid, Ryanair says, saving 490,000t of carbon. SAF will be supplied to the carrier across Spain and Portugal. "SAF plays a key role in Ryanair's pathway to net zero strategy and our goal of using 12.5% SAF by 2030," says Ryanair DAC chief executive Eddie Wilson. "Achieving this requires multiple different feedstocks and production methods and we're encouraged that Repsol are looking at multiple solutions. This agreement helps Ryanair secure access to [circa] 15% of this ambitious goal."

Air Moldova has suspended flights and ticket sales as it awaits court approval of an "accelerated restructuring" plan, which the airline says is aimed at avoiding bankruptcy. The carrier says in a post on its Facebook page that it has submitted an application to the court for an "accelerated restructuring" plan that "aims to avoid the bankruptcy of the airline, solve the existing problems and accept investments". Air Moldova adds that unnamed investors are "ready to invest" $50 million in the airline, which it says would enable it to resolve its financial problems and renew its fleet. The airline has suspended flights from 2 May, noting that it aims to restart operations "within three days" of the court making a decision. Last month, Air Moldova said it had been "forced" to suspend all operations between 21 and 25 April, due to a lack of financial resources. It followed a warning from Moldova's civil aviation authority in November that the carrier was at "potential risk of insolvency". The regulator said at the time that an unannounced inspection had uncovered "serious deficiencies" in Air Moldova's finances, and that the airline had been asked to submit a corrective plan for approval. Fleets data shows that Air Moldova has a fleet of four aircraft, all of which are listed as being in storage. These include an Embraer 190 owned by the airline, an Airbus A321 leased from Willis Lease Finance, an A320 leased from TrueAero and an A319 leased from Carlyle Aviation Partners.