Lufthansa will give its Allegris First Class cabin a service debut on 9 November, offering it on an Airbus A350-900 flight to Bengaluru first and to another Indian city, Mumbai, from 15 November. The new cabin features two individual suites plus Suite Plus, a separate double cabin with ceiling-high walls and a closable door, a table, and two wide seats that can be combined into a double bed. After a technical introduction phase, Lufthansa will initially present the product to its most loyal guests by invitation, it says, adding that "as soon as more aircraft with the new first class are part of its fleet, targeted upgrades by passengers and later targeted bookings will be possible step by step"

Ethiopian Airlines has taken delivery of its first Airbus A350-1000 from the airframer. The Star Alliance carrier has configured the aircraft with 395 seats and opted for Airbus's HBCplus satcom connectivity system, the manufacturer says, noting that the A350-1000 will feature the largest business class in Ethiopian's current fleet. The airline has another three A350-1000s and 11 -900s on order.Twenty A350-900s are now in service with Ethiopian. The airline's passenger fleet additionally includes 17 Boeing 737 Max 8s, 10 737NGs, 10 777s, 29 787s and 29 De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400 turboprops.

Schiphol Airport is implementing a 37% increase in airport charges over three years, driven by high inflation, increased interest rates, and pandemic-related losses. The airport says the charges will rise 41% in 2025, 5% in 2026, and decrease 7.5% in 2027. Airlines will pay approximately €15 more per departing passenger by 2027 compared to 2024 rates. The airport plans to invest €6 billion over five years in infrastructure and quality improvements. "This sharp increase in charges is necessary to invest in the desired quality and sustainability at Schiphol, to improve services to airlines and passengers, and to provide decent working conditions for all people working at Schiphol. In addition, by making it significantly more expensive or even impossible to fly with noisier aircraft and to fly at night, we are contributing to the reduction of nuisance to our neighbours," says Schiphol chief financial officer Robert Carsouw. The new fee structure incentivises the use of quieter aircraft by implementing higher charges for older, noisier planes and significantly increasing costs for night flights by making them three to six times more expensive than daytime flights. Some particularly noisy aircraft will be banned entirely from 2025. To mitigate the impact on airlines, Schiphol is making a €100 million voluntary contribution to reduce potential charges while maintaining operational capabilities. The charges are regulated by the Consumer and Market Authority (ACM) and cannot be used for profit, only for airport operations and improvements.