South African Airways (SAA) has suspended all flights from Johannesburg to Mauritius until 31 January 2022, after the Mauritian government implemented a travel ban on all commercial flights from South Africa. The extension of the travel ban by Mauritius is effective immediately, the flag carrier notes, and comes as a result of the Omicron variant. The airline says it will continue to monitor the situation closely.

Austrian Airlines has repaid another €30 million ($33.8 million) of its €300 million state-guaranteed loan. The Vienna-based carrier says it is on track to repay the loan in the agreed timeframe despite the fact that the Covid-19 pandemic is "going on longer than we all hoped". Austrian must repay the loan in six-monthly instalments until 2026. It has now repaid a total of €60 million, after making two €30 million payments in July and December of this year. "Without the support of the Austrian federal government and other stakeholders, the continuance of Austrian Airlines as such would not have been possible," says board member Michael Trestl. "We are proud that we have already repaid a fifth of our financial aid, and that we are fulfilling our responsibilities as promised." The €300 million state-backed loan was part of a €600 million financial support package for the carrier that was agreed between the Austrian government and parent company Lufthansa Group in June 2020. In addition to the €300 million loan, the Austrian government provided €150 million in state aid to cover "coronavirus-related losses", while Lufthansa Group injected another €150 million in equity capital. The Austrian government has guaranteed 90% of the loan via the state's COFAG agency – a special-purpose vehicle to provide liquidity assistance to companies during the Covid-19 crisis. The banking syndicate includes Erste Group, which is serving as overall arranger for the loan, as well as Raiffeisenbank International and BAWAG.

Ethiopian Airlines is preparing to return the Boeing 737 Max to its active fleet, with its first flight of the type in nearly three years scheduled for 1 February. The carrier says it is in the "final stage" of returning the aircraft, which was grounded worldwide following the crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 in March 2019. “Safety is our top-most priority at Ethiopian Airlines and it guides every decision we make and all actions we take", Ethiopian Airlines Group chief executive Tewolde GebreMariam states. "It is in line with this guiding principle that we are now returning the 737 Max to service not only after the recertification by the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration), EASA of Europe, Transport Canada, CAAC, ECAA and other regulatory bodies but also after the return to service by more than 34 airlines around the world." Following the crash in March 2019, Ethiopian committed to being among the last airlines to return the type to service, with the decision to resume operations having been taken after an assessment of the design modification work and 20-month-long recertification process. "The airplane model has accumulated more than 275,000 commercial flights since the resumption of 737 Max operation a year ago," adds GebreMariam. Ethiopian will release further details on its plans for the 737 Max in January. Data shows that Ethiopian currently has four 737 Max aircraft in storage and 25 on order, with five purchase options.