India has cleared the Boeing 737 Max to begin operating to and from the country's airports again. In a 26 August notice, India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) says it has "rescinded with immediate effect" an order which grounded the Max in the wake of two fatal accidents involving the type. The DGCA says it has been "closely monitoring the global trend with regard to ungrounding" the Max, and has seen "no untoward reporting" about the aircraft's safety. India's government grounded the Max on 13 March 2019. In April of this year, the DGCA granted permission for foreign-registered 737 Max aircraft to overfly the country. It also gave permission for foreign-registered Max jets that were grounded in India to perform operational readiness flights. Indian low-cost carrier SpiceJet, which has 13 737-8's in storage, disclosed earlier on 26 August that it had finalised a settlement with lessor Avolon to return its Max fleet to service once regulatory approvals had been obtained.

Bangkok Airways has disclosed that it suffered a “cybersecurity attack” that affected passenger data. "An initial investigation of the incident appeared to confirm that some of the personal data may have been accessed," the airline says in a 26 August statement. The airline did not state the number of passengers affected by the breach, which may involve passenger data such as names, contact details, passport information, travel history and partial credit card information. The airline says it discovered the incident on 23 August and is currently investigating to verify the compromised data and affected passengers as well as take relevant measures to strengthen its IT system. The incident did not affect Bangkok Airways' operational or aeronautical security systems. The airline has reported the incident to the Royal Thai police and notified the relevant authorities.

New Italian flag carrier Italia Trasporto Aereo (ITA) will begin sales on 26 August ahead of its first flight on 15 October, at which point Alitalia will cease operations. "In recent days, with the certifications obtained from Italian civil aviation authority (ENAC), we have reached an important milestone in the history of ITA," states the airline's chef executive Fabio Lazzerini. "Now we are preparing to achieve another fundamental result: the start of sales." He adds: "Now we must achieve new and complex goals in view of the launch of operations on 15 October, and numerous projects must be completed in order to create an efficient, sustainable, digital airline, capable of facing future challenges with flexibility and in full discontinuity with the past." Separately, Alitalia has announced that, in line with the sale process under which much of its asset base will be transferred to ITA, "the ministry of economic Development has authorised Alitalia to stop ticket sales and, as a consequence, to interrupt flight activities starting from 15 October 2021, being the initial date of the new flagship carrier operations". Passengers with bookings beyond this date will be offered refunds. ITA's board met on 24 August to confirm a binding offer for Alitalia assets including 52 aircraft and a related number of slots, as well as certain contracts and other equipment, ahead of the new carrier's launch. On 26 August, ITA will begin processing staff applications for its ground and flight operations. It is meeting with trade unions on 25 August to start negotiations on working conditions that it says will be "in line with market practices". ITA chairman Afredo Altavilla states: "We have confidence in a constructive interaction with the trade unions in order to provide ITA with a new innovative employment contract capable of ensuring structural competitiveness of the airline with competitors."