Rolls-Royce has formally opened its jointly owned engine overhaul facility with Air China in Beijing. Named Beijing Aero Engine Services (BAESL), the site will support Airbus A350-900-powering Trent XWB-84s alongside Trent 700s and Trent 1000s, optionally available for A330ceos and Boeing 787s, respectively. Overhaul operations are scheduled to begin in 2026, with a plan to complete 250 shop visits a year by 2034, Rolls-Royce says. It highlights the site's role as the first dedicated Trent MRO facility in mainland China for customers in the nation "and beyond". In Hong Kong, Rolls-Royce operates a jointly owned overhaul shop with local maintenance specialist HAECO, which is part of Swire Group, Cathay Pacific's largest shareholder. That engine shop, HAESL, supports both Trent XWB-84s and -97s (used on A350-1000s and the in-development A350 Freighter) as well as the Trent 700s, Trent 800s (optionally available for first-generation 777s), Trent 1000s and legacy RB211-524Gs. The Civil Aviation Administration of China has granted BAESL a maintenance organisation certificate, "confirming the facility's readiness to deliver professional, reliable and high-quality overhaul services on Trent engines", Rolls-Royce says. "China is one of the largest and fastest growing widebody markets in the world and is also key to Rolls-Royce," states the UK manufacturer's director commercial aviation aftermarket operations Paul Keenan. "We power more than 500 of China's in-service commercial aircraft; nearly 20% of our global Trent engines were delivered to China. Increasing flying hours, new orders and existing fleet upgrades all lead to growing demand for shop visits, both in China and around the world." Cirium fleets data shows that Air China's mainline passenger fleet of 529 aircraft includes 88 Rolls-Royce-powered jets: 44 A330ceos, 30 A350s and 14 787s.

India's civil aviation ministry has implemented fare caps on airlines as the nation's largest carrier IndiGo works to stabilise its network after days of severe disruption. In a statement issued on 7 December, IndiGo said it was on track to operate over 1,650 flights that day, with an on-time performance of around 75%, compared with 30% the previous day. On 8 December, it said its daily total would reach 1,800, and that on-time performance had improved to 91%. Within its 7 December statement the airline declared its "growing confidence" that the network would be stabilised by 10 December, after previously giving a timetrame of 10-15 December. This followed a "reboot" of its network on 5 December, when it cancelled hundreds of flights to deal with major disruptions, which it blamed on weather, schedule changes, technology glitches and the implementation of new duty-time limitation regulations on its crew. In response, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) suspended the regulations temporarily to allow IndiGo to roster more pilots. The Ministry of Civil Aviation said in a 6 December statement that it was capping the maximum fares airlines could charge in order to offset "a shift in demand and temporary surge in airfares". It subsequently reported that fare levels across affected routes "have moderated to acceptable limits". India's government intends to convene a high-level inquiry into the disruption at IndiGo, aimed at identifying measures to prevent similar episodes. The Indian Express has reported that IndiGo chief executive Pieter Elbers and chief operating officer Isidre Porqueras were issued with show-cause notices by the DGCA to explain the disruption, and given an 8 December deadline to reply. Elbers was scheduled to speak at a UK Aviation Club lunch on 10 December, but the organisers have informed members that he is "unable to attend".

Air accident investigators in New Zealand have identified a safety issue with faulty engine fire switches in Airbus A320-family cockpits that has caused uncommanded, in-flight engine shutdowns on multiple aircraft. "The switches need to be inspected and replaced," writes the Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) in an interim factual report issued as part of its probe into an uncommanded engine shutdown during an Air New Zealand Airbus A320neo's flight from Wellington to Sydney on 1 December 2024. The aircraft diverted to Auckland and landed safely. TAIC says the engine shutdown was caused by "self-release of an engine fire pushbutton switch" located in the cockpit overhead panel above and behind the pilots' heads. "Neither pilot had touched it, and no checklist told them to check it after the engine shutdown," TAIC says in its interim report. The investigators add that switch manufacturer Safran determined that the fire-control panel had been "damaged through mishandling by a supplier", which resulted in the bending of a retaining pin inside the switch and the loosening of the switch's retention security in its latched position. In the TAIC account, Safran told Airbus and posted on its operator portal information about the issue in May 2024 "but did not directly notify airlines". In September and October 2024, Safran issued service bulletins listing 108 fire panels that needed to be inspected for damage. "The first time Airbus told airlines about the problem was on 18 December 2024," TAIC adds. Airbus confirms that it circulated an operator information transmission in December 2024 and followed that up with service bulletins in June 2025. Portuguese air accident investigation authority GPIAAF on 18 December 2024 published a report about a similar incident in 2023 with a TAP-operated A321neo. French authority BEA investigated another similar incident which occurred in October 2024 and involved a damaged cockpit panel that was not in Safran's list of suspected equipment. Following the investigations, the Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand informed the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) that "the scale of the problem of damaged fire panels was unknown", TAIC says. In October, EASA issued an airworthiness directive mandating inspections of all engine fire switch panels by November 2027. Safran has declined to comment on TAIC's findings.