Canada's federal Competition Bureau has warned that the proposed merger of WestJet and Sunwing Airlines "would likely result in increased prices, less choice and decreases in service for Canadians", as a government review of the transaction moves to the next stage. The regulatory report published on 25 October will inform Transport Canada's public interest assessment, due on 5 December. The transaction would create a powerhouse of leisure travel to destinations in Central America and the Caribbean. Calgary-based WestJet in March proposed the merger of WestJet Vacations and Sunwing Vacations, which would operate as a new business unit, spearheaded by Sunwing chief executive Stephen Hunter and with a Toronto headquarters supplemented by a Quebec office in Laval. The bureau states that the combination would "result in a substantial lessening or prevention of competition in the sale of vacation packages to Canadians" on 31 routes from the country to Mexico or the Caribbean. "The transaction also represents a merger of the only two integrated airlines and tour operators offering nonstop service on 16 of these routes," the bureau adds. "It would also likely result in a significant reduction in travel by Canadians on a variety of routes where their existing travel networks overlap." Canada's third-largest carrier Air Transat has also expressed concern about the proposed deal. Final regulatory approval will be decided by Canada's Governor in Council based on the forthcoming recommendation of transport minister Marc Garneau. WestJet is Canada’s second-largest airline, while Toronto-based Sunwing is fourth based on capacity scheduled for March, Data shows. WestJet and Sunwing in 2019 operated around 50% of capacity to sun destinations from Canada. Flag carrier Air Canada is more than twice the size of WestJet, which has agreed to codeshares with Transat and other airlines in a bid to compete against its larger rival.

Etihad Airways has completed its first flight with sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) procured in Japan. The SAF-powered flight departed from Tokyo Narita airport on 27 October under a partnership with ITOCHU Corporation and Neste announced earlier this year, the Middle Eastern carrier says. Under the contract, ITOCHU supplied approximately 40% blended MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel produced by Neste for the flight. This represented the first delivery of some 50,000 gallons of SAF, to be used over a number of flights in coming weeks, the Abu Dhabi-based carrier says. With this flight, Etihad notes that it has become the first international airline to procure and use Japanese supplied SAF on flights departing Japan. "The flight reduced CO2 by approximately 75.2 tCO2, based on the estimated fuel volume (20,000 US gallons) at a blend of 39.66% SAF," it says. Etihad's vice-president of procurement and supply chain Cassie Mackie states: "Etihad is committed to achieving net zero emissions by 2050 and reducing our 2019 emissions by 50% by 2035. The industry must get serious about decarbonisation and this type of collaboration between governments, corporates and the aviation sector, which increases SAF supply and availability at airports, helps pave the way for broader adoption." In December 2021, the Japanese government announced the goal of replacing 10% of aviation fuel consumption by Japanese airlines with SAF by 2030. To achieve this goal, ITOCHU established a SAF supply network at Japanese domestic airports across the country for Japanese domestic carriers, which is now being expanded to international carriers, starting with Etihad.

Jetstar Japan plans to begin operating its second Airbus A321LR on domestic routes from November. The aircraft, bearing registration number JA27LR, will depart from Hamburg on 28 October, making stops in Abu Dhabi and Hanoi before its scheduled arrival at Tokyo Narita on 31 October, the low-cost carrier said in a 24 October statement.
Fleet data indicates that the 238-seat jet (MSN 10146) is the second A321LR in its fleet. It was delivered in October 2021 and has been parked since. The data also shows Jetstar Japan has two other examples in its fleet. The first, registered JA26LR (MSN 10067), was delivered December 2020 and entered service in June. A third, registered JA28LR (MSN 10645) was delivered in end August. All three A321LRs are powered by CFM International LEAP-1A32 engines and managed by AerCap. Jetstar Japan says it will deploy JA27LR on twice-daily return services from Tokyo Narita to New Chitose and Fukuoka from 11 November, which are currently operated solely by its first A321LR, registered JA26LR. The low-cost carrier also operates daily return services from Tokyo Narita to Naha. The second aircraft will enable the airline to boost seat capacity on flights to Fukuoka and Naha during the winter season by "approximately 5%".