South African Airways will resume flights between Johannesburg and Mauritius from 21 November. The carrier says it will initially operate twice-weekly flights between OR Tambo International airport and Mauritius. SAA interim chief executive Thomas Kgokolo states: “Part of our growth strategy is to identify routes where there is demand and which can be profitable to the carrier. The resumption of services to Mauritius meets both those criteria.” SAA says it is now approaching its first full month of operations with local flights from Johannesburg to Cape Town and regionally to Accra, Kinshasa, Harare and Lusaka. A daily Maputo service will begin in December.

Boeing during September delivered 35 commercial aircraft and booked 22 net orders, increasing the pace of shipments to customers from the previous month amid demand for 737 Max jets. New orders for the Chicago-based airframer were less than half of the 53 commercial aircraft ordered during August. Boeing has booked a net total of 302 aircraft orders during 2021 after factoring cancellations and conversions of other orders. Cancellations during September included Air Lease removing one 787-9 order, while GECAS removed four Max orders. Customers that booked new orders during September include 777 Partners, which ordered six Max jets following the investment firm's order for eight of those aircraft during August. Orders also included five 737-800-based maritime patrol aircraft for the German government and one 777 freighter for FedEx Express. Two unidentified customers also booked separate orders for 10 Max aircraft and five 777F's, respectively. Boeing increased deliveries of Max jets from 14 during August to 26 in September. Deliveries of Max jets to customers during September included seven to Ryanair, five to Turkish Airlines, four to Air Lease, and two to Air Canada. The US airframer also delivered one 777F to FedEx Express and another of that type to Lufthansa Cargo. Freighter deliveries also included a 747-8F to UPS and two 767-300F's to FedEx Express. Total deliveries during the third quarter for Boeing was 85 commercial jets, higher than 79 delivered during the second quarter. During the third quarter 2020, Boeing had delivered 28 commercial jets. The US Federal Aviation Administration lifted its flight ban against Max aircraft in November 2020. Boeing has delivered 241 aircraft during 2021. Airbus remains ahead of Boeing in aircraft deliveries during 2021, having shipped 40 aircraft to 25 customers during September, hitting the exact same mark as in August for a total of a total of 424 aircraft deliveries so far this year. The European airframer generated one aircraft order during September and has booked 133 net orders for aircraft during 2021. Boeing has scheduled its third quarter earnings call for 27 October.

Lufthansa Group has repaid €1.5 billion ($1.7 billion) drawn from the ‘Silent Participation I’ of Germany's Economic Stabilisation Fund (ESF). The repayment was made following the completion of a €2.1 billion capital increase announced in September, the group says. The new shares started trading on the Frankfurt stock exchange on 11 October. Lufthansa notes that it intends to terminate the unused portion of ‘Silent Participation I’ and fully repay the ‘Silent Participation II’ of €1 billion before the end of 2021. The ESF, which now holds 14.09% of the share capital, has undertaken to start divesting its equity interest in the company no earlier than six months after the completion of the capital increase, Lufthansa says. However, the sale of the stake is to be completed within two years after the capital increase, provided that the group has repaid the silent participations. Lufthansa’s chief executive Carsten Spohr says: "We are very grateful that [Lufthansa] was stabilised with tax money in the most challenging of times. This has made it possible to preserve more than 100,000 jobs.