Europe's regulators for aviation and the railways have signed a memorandum of co-operation to establish a "regular structured dialogue" to improve information-sharing between the two sectors. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency says collaboration with the European Union Agency for Railways will cover three core areas: the European co-ordination centre for accident and incident reporting systems (ECCAIRS); big data; and sustainability. The agencies highlight their interest in promoting "a high level of aviation and railway safety and environmental protection in Europe" and "a high level of efficiency of the aviation and railway systems". They note: "In order to ensure an efficient operation and interoperability of the European aviation and railway safety systems, it is necessary to combine technical and scientific resources at a European level in order to establish a more harmonised regulatory system, exchange expertise, and ensure resilience." The accord spans an objective to strengthen co-operation in aviation and railway research and innovation, and to identify "synergies in using similar systems, platforms and methodologies". EASA is to assist its rail counterpart in the development of a joint information-sharing system based on its own experience with ECCAIRS in the aviation sector. This is intended to have the effect of "maximising the benefits of a multimodal approach to the sharing of safety-related information". In big data, the agencies will establish a "mobility data space" to provide a "structure for data sharing" and support the "overall objective of the digital transformation of the transport and mobility sector". The two regulators also foresee sharing data-science resources and datasets such as weather data and satellite traffic observations. In the area of sustainability, the agencies will jointly provide technical expertise to the EU Commission for potential regulatory action regarding multimodal transport and harmonised measurement of transport and logistics emissions. EASA's environmental-labelling programme for aviation will form the basis of a "consistent system to make transport modes comparable", the agencies envision. Also on the agenda is an impact analysis of electrification of different transport modes and use of alternative energy sources such as hydrogen and synthetic fuels. Furthermore, the agencies see room for collaboration in the development of safety requirements for hydrogen-powered trains, aircraft and ground infrastructure. They have agreed to meet again within a year, at EASA's headquarters in the German city of Cologne, to review progress.

Nigerian domestic operator Ibom Air has signed a long-term agreement to wet-lease two Airbus A320-200s from GetJet Airlines. The aircraft, bearing the Lithuanian registration LY-GYM and LY-FAS, commenced commercial operations on 21 November 2022, the Lithuanian ACMI and charter operator says. The contract is valid for 12 months, it adds. GetJet, in co-operation with its established affiliates, will further support Ibom Air via crew training and line maintenance services in Nigeria. GetJet's chief executive Ruta Kulvinskaite states: "Our A320-200s will provide much-needed capacity to complement the exceptional levels of passenger demand that Ibom Air is experiencing. This collaboration will deliver the capabilities necessary for our partner's sustained growth both domestically and regionally."

Thompson Aero Seating has started construction of an in-house dynamic test facility, to reduce development lead time for new aircraft seats. The UK manufacturer – based in Portadown, outside Belfast in Northern Ireland – has so far used sled-testing facilities elsewhere in Europe and North America to meet crash-test requirements for seat certification. A reverse accelerator sled that will be installed at Thompson’s site in Banbridge, near Portadown, will be capable of producing accelerations up to 100g, the manufacturer says. "Having our own dynamic test facility will give us a huge opportunity to save on lead times in the development of our new seats,” chief executive Neil Taggart states. Thompson says the new in-house capability will give the company "greater opportunity for innovation and will allow designs to be optimised", and that a team of newly recruited of test engineers will "become an integral part of designing the next generation of world-class aircraft interior products". Test operations at the new facility are scheduled to begin in autumn 2023. Thompson shareholder AVIC will provide a majority of funding required for the expansion project, and some financial support will come from Invest Northern Ireland, the seat manufacturer says. Thompson is part of a UK-headquartered group of AVIC-owned cabin interior suppliers, which additionally includes Chinese company Fesher Aviation Components, AIM Altitude, Austrian composites specialist FACC, and Jiatai.