TAP Air Portugal plans to invest €20 million ($21.7 million) in a new maintenance and engineering hub with capacity for two Airbus A321s at Porto's Francisco Sa Carneiro airport. Scheduled for completion in 2028, the project represents a "decisive step" in TAP's growth strategy, the airline says, "allowing it to internalise major fleet inspections, reduce operating costs and create around 200 highly specialised jobs". It will service A321s "or similar", TAP adds. Alongside this, the carrier plans to significantly increase capacity from Porto, to 135 direct weekly departures. This includes the launch of new flights to Cape Verde and the Azores in July, each with three weekly frequencies. A new direction service to Tel Aviv will be launched at four-times-weekly frequency, and the Porto-Boston route will switch from a seasonal service to a permanent, year-round operation next winter. TAP already operates intercontinental routes from Porto to Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, New York and Luanda. As part of its strategic plan for the next three years, it plans to add further intercontinental routes as well as boosting frequency increases on existing services. "This is a new moment for TAP and for northern Portugal," states chief executive Luis Rodrigues. "We are strengthening our intercontinental operations and investing in critical infrastructure, ensuring more options for our customers and more opportunities for the regional economy. TAP is committed to the north like never before."

Aeroflot Group has reported steady customer numbers for 2025, although available seat-kilometres was lifted and traffic in revenue passenger-kilometres rose. Passenger numbers totalled 55.3 million, 0.1% up on 2024's level. RPKs increased 3.4% as ASKs were lifted 2.7%. As a result, load factor increased by 0.6 percentage points to 90.2%. Domestic traffic naturally remains the backbone of the group's operations. It carried 42 million domestic passengers, against 13.4 million on international routes. In 2022, Aeroflot lost access to many international markets following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The group's flagship carrier, Aeroflot Russian Airlines, had a minor 1.8% dip in passenger numbers, to 29.5 million. Management attributes this largely to the success of a shuttle programme between Moscow and St Petersburg launched in June 2024. This involved the strategic transfer of several flights from Aeroflot to sister carrier Rossiya.

Emirates will launch new daily direct flights between Dubai and Finnish capital Helsinki on 1 October. The service will be the only nonstop year-round one between Finland and the United Arab Emirates, says the carrier. An Airbus A350 fitted with a premium-economy cabin will be deployed on the route. Emirates adds that the schedule has been optimised for seamless connections to major destinations across Asia, Africa, Australia and New Zealand. "There is already strong demand between Helsinki and Dubai... Introducing direct, year-round connectivity is a natural next step," states the Middle Eastern carrier's operations chief Adnan Kazim. "Finland offers a unique combination of innovation, nature, and culture, unlocking new opportunities for tourism and trade." Cirium data shows that Oneworld carrier Finnair operates a daily direct link between Dubai and Helsinki during the winter season.