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.

Air Mauritius has issued a request for proposals for the lease of an ATR 72-500 or -600 turboprop. A notice on the African carrier's website states that the RFP was issued on 10 November and closes on 24 November. It does not give details as to the duration of the lease or other commercial conditions the airline is seeking. Data shows that Air Mauritius has three ATR 72-500s in storage: two on lease from Nordic Aviation Capital and a third owned aircraft.

US carrier Spirit Airlines has launched domestic flights from San Antonio in Texas to Las Vegas in Nevada and Orlando in Florida. The two routes are being served on a daily basis, the Florida-based airline says. Spirit also plans to commence daily services from San Antonio to Baltimore/Washington in Maryland and Fort Lauderdale in Florida on 8 March 2023.