British Airways has entered negotiations with unions about establishing a new short-haul carrier to operate out of London Gatwick. The IAG-owned carrier confirms that talks to create a new unit at the facility have begun but declined to give further details while the process continues. Pilot union BALPA says it "cautiously welcomes" the decision to restart short-haul services from Gatwick. "BALPA and BA are in the final stages of negotiations over the revised pay and conditions for Gatwick-based BA pilots, and we hope to bring these talks to a conclusion shortly." Travel website Head for Points quotes BA as saying in an email to staff that Gatwick "was previously a highly competitive market, but for us to run a sustainable airline in the current environment, we need a competitive operating model". As a result it is proposing "a new operating subsidiary to run alongside our existing long-haul Gatwick operation, to serve short-haul routes to/from Gatwick from summer 2022. This will help us to be both agile and competitive, allowing us to build a sustainable short-haul presence at Gatwick over time." BA suspended flights at London Gatwick airport last year as passenger demand collapsed amid the pandemic, and consolidated its services at London Heathrow instead. This prompted speculation that the airline could abandon Gatwick altogether. Commenting on the latest development, investment firm Goodbody says a move to establish a new subsidiary with a lower-cost base could put pressure on EasyJet, which is Gatwick's largest operator, and Wizz Air, which is seeking to expand its presence there. "Clearly a development to be watched," adds Goodbody.

India has cleared the Boeing 737 Max to begin operating to and from the country's airports again. In a 26 August notice, India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) says it has "rescinded with immediate effect" an order which grounded the Max in the wake of two fatal accidents involving the type. The DGCA says it has been "closely monitoring the global trend with regard to ungrounding" the Max, and has seen "no untoward reporting" about the aircraft's safety. India's government grounded the Max on 13 March 2019. In April of this year, the DGCA granted permission for foreign-registered 737 Max aircraft to overfly the country. It also gave permission for foreign-registered Max jets that were grounded in India to perform operational readiness flights. Indian low-cost carrier SpiceJet, which has 13 737-8's in storage, disclosed earlier on 26 August that it had finalised a settlement with lessor Avolon to return its Max fleet to service once regulatory approvals had been obtained.

Bangkok Airways has disclosed that it suffered a “cybersecurity attack” that affected passenger data. "An initial investigation of the incident appeared to confirm that some of the personal data may have been accessed," the airline says in a 26 August statement. The airline did not state the number of passengers affected by the breach, which may involve passenger data such as names, contact details, passport information, travel history and partial credit card information. The airline says it discovered the incident on 23 August and is currently investigating to verify the compromised data and affected passengers as well as take relevant measures to strengthen its IT system. The incident did not affect Bangkok Airways' operational or aeronautical security systems. The airline has reported the incident to the Royal Thai police and notified the relevant authorities.