Emirates plans to deploy its retrofitted Boeing 777s on Dubai-Vienna from 3 January. The Austrian capital will become the fourth European destination to feature the upgraded aircraft, following Geneva, Zurich and Brussels, the UAE-based carrier says. The four-class 777 features eight first-class suites, 40 business-class seats in a 1-2-1 layout, 24 premium-economy seats in a 2-4-2 arrangement and 256 economy seats. The aircraft upgrade is part of Emirates' ongoing retrofit programme, with 10 retrofitted 777s already in service across various routes.

South African Airways has warned it does not have the financial firepower to meet its pilots' demand for a 15.7% pay increase. Unions have threatened to launch strike action from 5 December if an agreement on pay is not reached. They initially asked for a 30% increase, citing the carrier's return to profitability this year. SAA has offered 8.46%. Interim chief executive John Lamola argues that the carrier "may not by any means" claim to be financially robust, and can no longer expect its shareholders to provide additional funding to prop it up. "SAA cannot return to the lucrative benefits that SAA pilots have historically enjoyed," he states. "Acceding to [unions'] demand for a 15.7% wage increase will trigger SAA's decline into bankruptcy." The airline, he adds, "has only recently regained its operational viability after emerging from business rescue in 2021". Strike action, he asserts, would "disrupt this momentum". SAA made a net profit of R252 million ($13.9 million) in the year to March 2023, as revenue rose R5.7 billion from R2 billion. During the period, it operated six to eight aircraft, serving only nine destinations. Talks on privatising the airline collapsed earlier this year amid disagreement over its valuation. As a result, it has remained fully in government hands.

Air passenger demand increased 7.1% year on year in October, according to the latest data from IATA. The airline association says international demand was up 9.5% and domestic demand was up 3.5%. Total capacity rose 6.1%, and load factor gained 0.8 percentage points to reach 83.9%. Capacity growth was led by Asia-Pacific and Latin America, with increases of 17.2% and 11.6%, respectively, while in other regions there were single-digit rises in capacity. Asia-Pacific airlines saw the highest growth in international traffic at 17.5%, followed by Latin American and African carriers at 10.9% and 10.4%, respectively. European carriers recorded 8.7% growth in international demand. North American carriers saw a 3.2% increase, while Middle Eastern airlines had the slowest growth at 2.2%. IATA adds that the USA showed a slight decline in domestic demand, while all other key domestic markets showed stable growth. It notes that the fast-growing Chinese domestic demand is being met with increased use of widebodies. "Continued strong and stable demand is good news, but just as important is the steady improvement in load factors," states IATA director general Willie Walsh. "It shows what a great job the industry is doing in flying people more efficiently."