Emirates has taken delivery of its first Airbus A350 aircraft. The aircraft, registered as A6-EXA, is the first of 65 A350s it expects to receive over the next few years. The delivery also marks the first new aircraft type to join the Emirates' fleet since 2008. The carrier says the delivery flight was powered by a blend of jet fuel and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The aircraft will officially enter commercial service in January when it makes its debut flight to its first destination, Edinburgh, followed by eight other destinations across the Middle East, West Asia, and Europe, it adds.

Finnair has decided to cancel about 300 flights in response to the Finnish Air Line Pilots' Association strike planned for 9 and 13 December. The Oneworld carrier says the strike will also impact some individual flights in the days before and after these dates, and estimates that 33,000 customers will be affected. Customers will be rerouted but "it is not possible to offer everyone a rerouting that is close to the original", warns Finnair. "It is disappointing that the Finnish Air Line Pilots' Association has chosen to strike rather than negotiate," states chief operating officer Jaakko Schildt. "This unfortunately disrupts the travel plans of thousands of our customers during the pre-Christmas season."

Copa Airlines' final two scheduled 737 Max 8 deliveries for this year have been postponed, but the carrier still expects to receive them by year-end. The Panamanian carrier took delivery of one Max 8 during the third quarter. Sources data shows that this year through 21 November, Copa has received from Boeing three Max 9s and one Max 8. It has 21 Max aircraft on order. "Due to delays in Boeing's delivery schedule, the arrival of our last two aircraft for the year was postponed by a few months," Copa chief executive Pedro Heilbron said on 21 November during an earnings call. "Nonetheless, we still expect to receive two 737 Max 8s before year-end, one at the end of this month, and one in December. These two deliveries will bring our fleet to a total of 112 aircraft by the end of the year." He adds that Boeing has updated its 2025 delivery schedule to account for the recent delays. "We now plan to receive 11 Max 8s next year, to end the year with a fleet of 123 aircraft. This delivery schedule has production ramp-up assumptions that will need to materialise, so actual aircraft deliveries could change." Heilbron notes that aircraft delivery delays and supply-chain issues encountered by aircraft and engine manufacturers, and by maintenance companies, is "a complicated matter" for the all-737 operator. "It's not like we have that many options," he says. "We have bought some aircraft off-lease. We're staying with some 737-700s we were expecting to return. And we have even bought spare engines ahead of time. We're very, very practiced in securing parts in the marketplace, even though we have contracts with OEMs that are supposed to cover us." Copa's fleet of 100 aircraft – all of which are in service – includes nine 737-700s with an average age of 21.1 years, sources data shows.