Finnair intends to restore eight grounded Airbus A321s to service by the end of October, following a suspension triggered by a seat-cover fire-safety issue. The airline halted operations of the jets on 13 October after learning that "impact of washing on the fire protection of the seat covers had not been verified in the required manner". That resulted in around 70 cancellations affecting 11,000 passengers. The airline brought in two leased aircraft to reduce disruption. Around 1,700 seat covers are now being replaced across the fleet. One of the aircraft has already resumed flying and six more scheduled to do so within a week. "We are deeply sorry for the inconvenience and disruption this has caused," states Pekka Korhonen, head of technical operations at Finnair. "Safety is the foundation of everything we do." The affected seat covers were manufactured by a long-standing Finnair partner and based on specifications provided by the original manufacturer, neither of which the carrier names. "The covers have been washed in accordance with the information received from the original seat manufacturer," it states. "Seats are typically washed every two years." The new covers are being sourced from multiple suppliers, it adds.

Airbus has opened its second A320 Family assembly line at its Tianjin, China facility, with the first aircraft to roll off the line scheduled for early 2026. The airframer states that the inauguration of the second line brings the total number of A320 Family assembly lines to 10, including four in Hamburg, two in Toulouse and two in Mobile, Alabama "We welcome the addition of Tianjin’s second line to our global production system, as it provides us with the necessary flexibility and capacity to deliver on our plan to assemble 75 A320 Family aircraft per month in 2027", says Airbus chief executive Guillaume Faury. The Tianjin facility was inaugurated in 2008 and Airbus says it has assembled more than 780 A320 Family aircraft since then.

Cathay Group and Airbus have jointly allocated $70 million to study production of sustainable aviation fuel. "The two companies will work to identify, evaluate and invest in projects that support the scaling of SAF production towards 2030 and beyond," Cathay says, adding that "projects will be assessed based on their commercial viability, technological maturity and potential for long-term offtake". Oneworld member Cathay acknowledges that "scaling SAF adoption requires deep collaboration across the value chain, from policymakers and investors to SAF producers, airlines and customers". It specifies that the aim of its Airbus collaboration is to "accelerate [SAF] production capability for more meaningful impact". The agreement was disclosed during the IATA World Sustainability Symposium in Hong Kong. "SAF remains the most important lever for Cathay and the wider aviation industry to drive toward our common decarbonisation goals," states Cathay operations chief Alex McGowan. "This co-investment partnership with Airbus underscores our commitment to supporting a more scalable SAF industry in the near term." Cathay highlights its separate involvement in Oneworld's joint SAF fund with Breakthrough Energy Ventures, the climate investment firm founded by Bill Gates. That initiative is aimed at exploring next-generation SAF technologies with potential to significantly scale volume and reduce costs. The Airbus partnership, meanwhile, "will target more mature SAF opportunities to accelerate near- to medium-term availability", Cathay says. Airbus president Asia-Pacific Anand Stanley states that the agreement reflects the two companies' commitment "to make a real difference", adding: "The production and distribution of affordable SAF at scale requires an unprecedented cross-sectoral approach. Our partnership with Cathay is a concrete example."