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%".

Alaska Airlines has expanded its Boeing 737 Max order by exercising options on 42 Max 10s and 10 Max 9s, the airframer confirms. With the new agreement, the US carrier has unfilled orders for more than 100 Max jets, notes Boeing. Alaska specifies that its confirmed Max fleet has grown from 94 to 146 – including 35 Max 9s already in service – and that its orders span all three variants: the Max 8 as well as the 9 and10. The airline says it has also secured rights on 105 more Max jets, giving it "line of sight to operating more than 250... by 2030". Fleets data shows that, in addition to the 35 Max 9s, Alaska operates 169 737NGs, 10 Airbus A321neos and 25 A320ceos. It has another six A320ceos in storage, along with six A319ceos. The airline declares itself "on track to sunset Airbus aircraft by the end of 2023". Alaska's Max 9s are configured with 178 seats. The Max 10 can seat 204 passengers in a two-class configuration and offers a range of 3,100nm.