Comac has received airworthiness approval from the Civil Aviation Administration of China for the ARJ21 passenger-to-cargo conversion project. At present, there are two contracted customers, Zhongyuan Longhao Airlines and YTO Cargo Airlines, and the first two aircraft will be delivered to the two users respectively, the Chinese airframer says. The project for freighter conversion started in May 2020 and comprised preliminary and detailed design processes, as well as modification implementation. The ARJ21 converted freighter is expected to become the main model in the regional air cargo market, with a maximum commercial load of 10t and will carry several sizes such as PMC, PAG and AKE, it adds.

Air Serbia carried over 234,000 passengers in December, a figure up 127% year on year and up 20% versus December 2019. The airline says it carried over 200,000 passengers in December for the first time since Air Serbia started operations. The carrier operated 2,761 flights, of which 96% were via Belgrade Nikola Tesla airport. This is an increase of 71% compared to the same month in 2021, it notes. General manager commercial and strategy Bosko Rupic states: "We will share accurate information about the total number of passengers carried in 2022 in the coming weeks, but preliminary results say that Air Serbia carried approximately 2.75 million passengers in 2022, which is only 2% less compared to 2019."

The European Commission has authorised France's €119 million ($125 million) restructuring aid measure to enable Air Austral to return to viability and €17.5 million in aid to compensate the airline for damage suffered during the Covid-19 pandemic between 17 March 2020 and 30 June 2020. After the approval by the EC of rescue aid in the form of a €20 million loan from the French state to Air Austral on 18 January 2022, France formally notified the EC of restructuring aid aimed at funding a restructuring plan for the airline, the commission says. Air Austral incurred significant operating losses and experienced a steep decline in traffic and profitability during the 17 March 2020 and 30 June 2020 period owing to the travel restrictions in place to limit the spread of Covid-19. The compensation was approved under Article 107(2)(b) TFEU after the EC found, in particular, that the French measure will make good the damage that is directly linked to the Covid-19 outbreak. It also found the measure to be proportionate, as the compensation does not exceed what is necessary to make good the damage.