United Airlines has reached an agreement with Eve Air Mobility for up to 400 electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, following an earlier deal by the US carrier with Archer Aviation for 100 of its air taxis. The deal with Eve includes a conditional purchase agreement for 200 eVTOLs and options for another 200. It represents a $15 million investment in Embraer's air mobility subsidiary, United and Eve say in a joint statement. Deliveries of the in-development four-seat aircraft are slated to begin in 2026. As part of the agreement, Eve and United want to work together on studies regarding the aircraft’s development, operation and a future urban air mobility ecosystem. United will participate in a three-week simulation of eVTOL passenger flights in Chicago using helicopters which is set to begin on 12 September. Republic Airways and SkyWest Airlines' parent are additional partners in that trial. Eve co-chief executive Andre Stein describes the agreement as an "unparalleled opportunity to work with United to advance the US UAM ecosystem". United, for its part, says its investment in Eve was in part driven by the company's "unique relationship" with Embraer which, it notes, is a "trusted aircraft manufacturer with a proven track record of building and certifying aircraft". The airline adds: "Critically, their relationship includes access to Embraer's service centres, parts warehouses and field service technicians, paving the way for a reliable operation. Upon entry into service, United could have its entire eVTOL fleet serviced by Eve's agnostic service and support operations." In August, United gave a $10 million pre-delivery deposit to California-based Archer for 100 of its eVTOLs. Michael Leskinen, president of United Airlines Ventures, an internal fund for environmental initiatives, states the carrier is "the first major airline to publicly invest in two eVTOL companies". He adds: "Our agreement with Eve highlights our confidence in the urban air mobility market and serves as another important benchmark toward our goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 – without using traditional offsets."

Qatar Airways and Virgin Australia have launched a new strategic partnership that significantly expands the networks of both airlines and offers substantial benefits and new destinations to travellers. The partnership, announced in May 2022, spans 49 routes across Australia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and allows travel to over 150 destinations across both company's networks, the carriers say. It will provide a trade and tourism boost for Australia and Qatar, the two companies say, while opening up new travel opportunities for both airlines' customers.

Airlines will "inevitably" have to reflect increased jet fuel costs in their ticket prices, but continued strong demand for air travel gives rise to a "positive outlook for the industry at the moment", in the view of IATA director general Willie Walsh.
During an online media briefing on 7 September, as IATA released global passenger and cargo figures for July, Walsh said the crack spread between the price of jet fuel and the price of crude oil was "at levels I don't ever recall seeing before". Jet fuel prices remain "very elevated", and this "ultimately gets reflected in ticket prices", he notes. However, airlines are continuing to see strong forward bookings, with many "generating good cash balances as we go through this period". IATA's forecast for global passenger traffic to return to 2019 levels in 2024 remains unchanged, with the USA predicted to reach pre-pandemic numbers in 2023 and China not until 2025. In July, global passenger traffic was up 59% compared with the same month in 2021, IATA figures show. It has now reached almost 75% of pre-crisis levels. Domestic traffic was up 4.1% year-on-year in July while international traffic rose by more than 150%. "Domestic markets are steadying and international markets are accelerating," says Walsh, adding that he expects this to continue into August and September. Global air-cargo demand in July was down 9.7% compared with July 2021, and was 3.5% lower than the same month in 2019. Cargo capacity was 3.6% above July 2021 and 7.8% below July 2019 levels. There was a strong domestic recovery in China and a "very strong performance" in Latin America, says Walsh, but the ongoing war in Ukraine "has taken lots of capacity out of the European market". Cargo capacity in the belly of passenger flights is "coming back", he notes, and will "probably get back to normal in late 2023", as the supply of widebodies starts to normalise. Walsh says dedicated freighters from OEMs "make a lot of sense", but he expresses "a little bit of doubt" on the passenger-to-freighter conversion market because he says these aircraft offer less capacity. "There's an important market for freighters but it's not a market every passenger airline will want to dip its toe into," says Walsh. For instance, he "can't see British Airways looking at dedicated freighters again". On the passenger side, the operational challenges seen at airports during the summer are "coming under control", and the situation is set to improve throughout the rest of this year as staffing levels improve, Walsh believes. However, he singles out London Heathrow and says the UK airport is continuing to struggle. "While Heathrow blames airlines, clearly the problem lies with Heathrow," says Walsh, describing passenger security lines at the airport in July as "abysmal". "More honesty is required before we can fix the problem," he adds.