New Italian flag carrier Italia Trasporto Aereo (ITA) will begin sales on 26 August ahead of its first flight on 15 October, at which point Alitalia will cease operations. "In recent days, with the certifications obtained from Italian civil aviation authority (ENAC), we have reached an important milestone in the history of ITA," states the airline's chef executive Fabio Lazzerini. "Now we are preparing to achieve another fundamental result: the start of sales." He adds: "Now we must achieve new and complex goals in view of the launch of operations on 15 October, and numerous projects must be completed in order to create an efficient, sustainable, digital airline, capable of facing future challenges with flexibility and in full discontinuity with the past." Separately, Alitalia has announced that, in line with the sale process under which much of its asset base will be transferred to ITA, "the ministry of economic Development has authorised Alitalia to stop ticket sales and, as a consequence, to interrupt flight activities starting from 15 October 2021, being the initial date of the new flagship carrier operations". Passengers with bookings beyond this date will be offered refunds. ITA's board met on 24 August to confirm a binding offer for Alitalia assets including 52 aircraft and a related number of slots, as well as certain contracts and other equipment, ahead of the new carrier's launch. On 26 August, ITA will begin processing staff applications for its ground and flight operations. It is meeting with trade unions on 25 August to start negotiations on working conditions that it says will be "in line with market practices". ITA chairman Afredo Altavilla states: "We have confidence in a constructive interaction with the trade unions in order to provide ITA with a new innovative employment contract capable of ensuring structural competitiveness of the airline with competitors."

Qantas Group will return five Airbus A380's to service a year ahead of schedule and plans to operate these to Los Angeles and London in the second half of 2022. The aircraft will fly between Sydney and Los Angeles from July 2022 and will from November 2022 be deployed on Sydney-London via Singapore. "These were key markets for Qantas before Covid and given how well they have recovered, we expect travel demand on these routes to be strong enough for the A380," chief executive Alan Joyce said in a speech about the company's earnings for the financial year ended 30 June. He adds that Qantas has the flexibility to bring back another five A380's by early 2024, depending on how quickly the market recovers, but its remaining two will be retired "because they will be surplus to requirements". Data shows that Qantas has 12 A380s in storage, fitted with Rolls-Royce Trent 900 powerplants. The aircraft were built between 2008 and 2011. "The A380s work well on these long-haul routes when there’s sufficient demand, and the high vaccination rates in both markets would underpin this," Qantas says. Separately, the group expects demand for nonstop service between Australia and London to be in "even higher demand post-Covid". "The airline is investigating using Darwin as a transit point, which has been Qantas’ main entry for repatriation flights, as an alternative (or in addition) to its existing Perth hub given conservative border policies in Western Australia. Discussions on this option are continuing," it says. Joyce mentions in his speech Project Sunrise – ultra-long-haul flights from Melbourne and Sydney to London and New York – without going into details. "The 10 aircraft we’re bringing back will have all-new interiors and we expect them to be part of our fleet for many years to come – alongside our Dreamliners, Airbus A330's and ultimately the Airbus A350 for Project Sunrise and non-stop flights to New York and London." Project Sunrise was put on hold due to the pandemic, scuppering initial plans to order up to 12 A350-1000's in 2020 and launch service from 2023. In the first quarter of 2021, Joyce said Qantas would revisit it at the end of the year and could launch service as early as 2024.

Delta Air Lines has converted purchase rights on an additional 30 Airbus A321neos into firm orders. It follows a similar transaction in April when the US carrier converted 25 A321neo purchase rights into firm orders and added a further 25 A321neo options. Today's announcement increases Delta's firm A321neo commitments to 155 aircraft, Airbus says. The airline holds purchase rights on an additional 70 of the type. Delta expects to take delivery of its first A321neo in the first half of 2022, with deliveries set to continue through 2027. The aircraft are powered by Pratt & Whitney PW1100G-JM engines. The new aircraft will be deployed across Delta's domestic network, complementing its existing fleet of 121 A321ceos.