An appeals court in the Netherlands has ruled that the Dutch government can impose stringent limits on the number of flights operated at Amsterdam Schiphol on environmental grounds. Following the decision on 7 July, authorities are now free to trim back the number of air services to 460,000 annually from 500,000, a reduction of 8%, in a bid to cut noise for local residents and reduce NOx. The move overturns an earlier ruling that blocked the reduction on the grounds that the Dutch government had not followed proper procedure. That challenge was brought by airlines KLM, Delta, EasyJet, Corendon and TUI, who also argued that they can reduce noise levels emissions while maintaining their networks having invested billions in the latest aircraft. “We are disappointed about the ruling and are studying it,” KLM states following the latest decision. It adds that it is unclear how it would be implemented and what the impact on its operations at Schiphol would be. KLM has previously warned that plans to limit aircraft movements at Schiphol threatened its ability to act as a viable hub airport and would push operators away from running smaller aircraft at high frequencies. KLM operates around 60% of flights from the facility. Schiphol has argued that is already taking measures to improve its environmental impact and was looking at banning private jets, night-time flights and the most polluting aircraft. The wrangling over the environmental impact of Schiphol has been keenly watched as an indication of how governments are moving to restrict flying on environmental grounds. It follows the partial implementation of a domestic flight ban in France where alternative public transport links are available, as well as a growing movement across the continent to discourage flying. The Dutch government has separately stated an aim of reducing flight numbers at the airport to 440,000 on a permanent basis.

Air Astana has more than doubled its 2022 after-tax profit to $78.4 million on the back of ongoing growth at its FlyArystan low-cost unit. This compares to a result of $36.1 million in 2021 as the Kazakh airline grappled with the pandemic. Total revenue last year was $1.03 billion, an increase of 36% on 2021, with capacity up by 22% and passenger load factor hitting 83%. “In 2022, our 20th year, the Air Astana Group recorded its best ever annual result,” comments chief executive Peter Foster. He highlights the growth of FlyArystan which operated nearly five times as much capacity as 2019 and that helped to expand the company’s domestic market share to 71% from 43% in 2018. The carrier believes that its extremely low operating costs and ticket prices are stimulating demand, with domestic travel up 89% on pre-pandemic levels. Likewise, the company has been encouraged by the reorientation of its legacy airline’s network around “lifestyle destinations” that has seen it serve leisure routes in Asia and Europe, having abandoned its previous strategy of catering to transfer passengers via its Astana hub. Traffic on these links was up by 55% on 2021, although they did not return to 2019 levels. “There was a sustained momentum in recovery throughout the year, wherever travel restrictions were lifted. International passenger traffic grew by 152.7% year-on-year, achieving 62.2% of 2019 levels, with major international routes, in particular, delivering results that fast approached pre-pandemic levels,” the carrier states. Air Astana has been heavily impacted by the war in Ukraine which resulted in the ceasing of around 10% of its network. Sanctions-related insurance and registration issues meant this included ending all services to or over Russia, “a state of affairs likely to persist for the foreseeable future,” adds Foster. This has however turned out to be “less damaging than at first feared because of redeployment of the spare capacity on lifestyle and business routes to Turkey, Greece, the UK, Asia, India and the Caucasus, all of which have performed well as a result of the general recovery of aviation markets,” he continues. The Group operates a fleet of 43 aircraft, comprising 35 Airbus A320 and A321s, three Boeing 767s and five Embraer E190-E2, with an average age of five years. It intends to continue with a fleet simplification strategy based around A320-family and Boeing 787 aircraft, and increase its fleet size to 64 by the end of 2027.

Icelandair has finalised its order for 13 Airbus A321XLR aircraft following a memorandum of understanding signed in April, marking the first Airbus purchase for the flag carrier. The first long-range XLR aircraft is scheduled for delivery in 2029, Icelandair president and chief executive Bogi Nils Bogason states, adding that "we plan to have four Airbus aircraft in operation before summer of 2025 and have now secured the lease of [four] new A321LR aircraft with our long-term partner SMBC Aviation Capital Limited”. According to fleets data, Irish lessor SMBC Aviation Capital manages three Boeing 737 Max 8s for Icelandair. Regarding the 13 new Airbus purchases, Icelandair states that "the financing of the aircraft is yet to be determined". This is normal when deliveries are several years out. Taking delivery of these long-range A320s can enable Icelandair to extend the reach of its transatlantic network, Airbus states while enabling it to reduce its operating costs through better fuel efficiency. Icelandair has 18 Boeing 737 Max aircraft in service and orders for two Max 8s. Its older Boeing fleet includes 12 757-200 aircraft in service, along with five in storage. The rest of its aircraft in service includes five 767-300s, two 757-300s, one 737NG-800, and six De Havilland Canada Dash 8 aircraft.