United Airlines has ordered another 100 Boeing 787s and 100 more 737 Max jets. The narrowbody portion of the order includes the exercising of 44 options which the US carrier had under a previous Max deal, Boeing notes. It says that in addition to ordering 100 Dreamliners, meanwhile, United has taken options on a further 100. Data shows United's backlog with Boeing includes 236 orders for the in-development Max 10 plus orders for 40 Max 8s, four Max 9s and 62 Max jets of an unspecified model. Some 27 Max 8s and 42 Max 9s have been delivered to the US carrier. United's widebody fleet, meanwhile, includes 12 787-8s, 38 787-9s and 16 787-10s. Before the new deal, United already had four 787-10s on order and options on 10 787-8s. Boeing notes that the commitment from United for a further 100 787s represents the manufacturer's largest order for the long-haul twinjet family. United's existing 787s are fitted with GE Aerospace GEnx-1B engines, while the 737 Max is exclusively powered by CFM International Leap-1B engines. The airline's chief executive Scott Kirby asserts that it "emerged from the pandemic as the world's leading global airline and the flag carrier of the United States". He states: "This order further solidifies our lead and creates new opportunities for our customers, employees and shareholders by accelerating our plan to connect more people to more places around the globe and deliver the best experience in the sky."

Cathay Pacific has welcomed the Hong Kong government's decision to remove the amber code restrictions under the vaccine pass for inbound travellers, effective 14 December. The adjustments "will help further boost sentiment for travel, especially among inbound visitors, thereby facilitating the resumption of travel activities and strengthening of network connectivity at the Hong Kong aviation hub", the Oneworld carrier says. Cathay Pacific recently resumed flights to destinations such as Tokyo Haneda, Sapporo and Fukuoka in Japan, Denpasar in Indonesia, Zurich in Switzerland, Penang in Malaysia, and Dhaka in Bangladesh. It plans to restore flights to destinations including Phuket in Thailand and Nagoya in Japan in January. Meanwhile, its low-cost subsidiary HK Express recently restored services to Tokyo Haneda, Chiang Mai in Thailand, and Da Nang in Vietnam, with flights to Jeju and Busan in South Korea scheduled to restart in January. Cathay says the group is on track to achieve its target of operating up to one-third of its pre-pandemic passenger flight capacity levels by the end of this year. It expects to operate around 70% of its pre-pandemic passenger flight capacity by the end of 2023, with an aim to return to pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2024.

Ryanair has dropped plans to appeal a UK court ruling that it cannot withhold compensation from passengers affected by strike action taken by airline staff. This follows the budget carrier's failure, earlier this year, to overturn the ruling, which relates to industrial action taken by Ryanair pilots in 2018. Ryanair had argued that it should not be required to compensate affected passengers because industrial action was an "extraordinary circumstance". The carrier had secured permission to appeal the decision with the UK Supreme Court. However, the UK Civil Aviation Authority now says Ryanair has decided not to appeal the ruling and will provide compensation to passengers. "The Civil Aviation Authority undertook enforcement action against Ryanair due to the belief that strike action by airline staff does not constitute an 'extraordinary circumstance' and, as such, affected passengers should be entitled to compensation where this results in the delay or short-notice cancellation of their flight," states CAA consumer director Paul Smith. "Ryanair's decision to discontinue the Supreme Court appeal of the Court of Appeal judgment means that affected passengers will now be able to make a claim for compensation from Ryanair if they were impacted by strike action taken by Ryanair pilots in 2018, and we would encourage all passengers on flights that were affected to claim the compensation they are entitled to."