Air France-KLM chief executive Ben Smith has underlined his carrier’s interest in expanding via an acquisition, indicating his ongoing interest in Air Europa or TAP Air Portugal. Speaking as part of his carrier's full-year results call on 6 March, he told investors that it would be "very nice to have" a third hub alongside Paris and Amsterdam, which would be "perhaps Lisbon or Madrid". The carrier has previously stated its interest in taking over TAP Air Portugal and is reported to be seeking a stake in Spain's Air Europa, actions which would give it greater access to the Portuguese and Spanish capital markets. "It would be very nice to have [a third hub] if we could acquire one of the two [airlines] on favourable terms," Smith adds, although he did not mention either carrier directly. The group was not looking to buy or merge for the sake of scale, he continued, but would put "significant effort" into avoiding being "marginalised in a certain market". All three of Europe's largest legacy airline groups are known to covet TAP given its strong position across the South Atlantic, with Smith himself previously commenting that the prospect of controlling those routes is "extremely powerful for us". Meanwhile, IAG recently dropped out of its bid to take control of Air Europa citing regulatory burdens. It had likewise justified the purchase on account of the Madrid-based airline's connections to Latin America. Smith went on to note the potential to develop a further hub in Copenhagen given Air France-KLM's near-20% position in SAS, which it has the right to increase to a controlling stake later on. "The financial situation which we're in is not as strong as we will be in a few years' [time]," continued Smith, underlining that it expects to have more latitude to explore acquisitions as its balance sheet recovers from the pandemic. "We are balancing out what our opportunities are in a responsible way."

Delta Air Lines has formed a partnership with US start-up developer JetZero focused on design of a blended-wing-body (BWB) aircraft with a flight range and seat capacity comparable to current mid-range international jets. The target is an aircraft 50% more fuel-efficient than today's. It would use existing engine technology, say the partners. "Delta will provide its operational expertise and will help design the interiors of the aircraft." JetZero in 2023 received an investment from the US Air Force of $235 million over a four-year period to prepare for the 2027 flight of a full-scale demonstrator of its BWB aircraft, intended to minimise noise, fuel burn and emissions. "Working with JetZero to realise an entirely new airframe and experience for customers and employees is bold and important work to advance the airline industry's fuel-saving initiatives and innovation goals," states Amelia DeLuca, chief sustainability officer at Atlanta-based Delta. "While Delta is focused on doing what we can today to address our carbon footprint, it's critical we also work with a variety of partners to advance revolutionary technologies, like JetZero's blended-wing-body aircraft, to solve for a significant portion of future aviation emissions." JetZero co-founder and chief executive Tom O'Leary notes that Delta "was one of the first carriers to partner with us, supporting us behind the scenes since 2023", and adds: "We look forward to their continued support of our programme through their deep knowledge and expertise." UK budget carrier EasyJet in September 2024 disclosed that it was partnering with JetZero to support development of a blended-wing aircraft capable of supporting hydrogen technology.

Wizz Air has highlighted softening bookings and yields in February and March following a sharp year-on-year improvement in January. In an update on its latest passenger numbers, the carrier notes that although the yield environment and booking profile "remained positive" in February and the first few days of March, it has "moderated compared to the January year-on-year improvement". Despite this, it is seeing better-than-expected revenue trends for its fiscal first quarter – which runs to end-June – compared with last year, "underpinning a stronger start to F26 [financial year 2026]". On 30 January, Wizz downgraded its profit guidance for the financial year ending 31 March to a range of €250-300 million ($260-312 million), from previous guidance of €350-450 million and an original projection of €500-600 million. The airline carried 4.6 million passengers during February, 5.1% more than last year. As it had lifted seat capacity 3%, its load factor rose 1.8 percentage points to 91.8%. It adds that engine-selection negotiations for forthcoming Airbus A320neo-family aircraft deliveries are ongoing, "but are seen as making positive progress as Wizz Air seeks the best outcome for its operations and the group".