The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation into whether a Covid-era decision to provide €6 billion ($6.5 billion) to recapitalise Lufthansa Group was in line with state aid rules. A decision to approve the aid was originally passed by the Commission in 2020, but the bloc’s general court annulled this last year. An appeal launched by the airline is currently pending. Germany provided €6 billion of direct financial support and a €3 billion loan guarantee in 2020 in order to restore the balance sheet of the Germany-based airline, given the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic. The aid consisted of €306 million of direct equity, €4.7 billion of non-convertible equity and €1 billion of convertible debt. This saw the German state briefly take a 20% stake in the company. Lufthansa agreed at the time that it would not pay dividends, limit the pay of management and divest 24 slots per day at Frankfurt and Munich airports, as part of the conditions for receiving the aid. However, on 10 May last year, the General Court rules that the recapitalisation measures did not meet several conditions of the Covid temporary framework, which governs how aid was to be provided to EU companies. “Following the General Court's judgment, the Commission will now carry out a more in-depth investigation to assess further the recapitalisation measure,” states the EC. This will look at issues including whether Lufthansa was eligible for the debt, incentives to encourage Germany to exit its position in the company, the price of the shares at the time of a potential conversion to equity, the existence of market power at other airports, namely Dusseldorf and Vienna, and other structural commitments imposed on the airline. “The opening of an in-depth investigation gives Germany and interested third parties the opportunity to submit comments. It does not prejudge in any way the outcome of the investigation,” adds the Commission. Lufthansa has previously noted that the German government made around €1 billion in proceeds from the sale of its stake in the airline.

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued an airworthiness directive (AD) calling on operators of Boeing 737NGs and Max jets to inspect the emergency oxygen generators to prevent a potential failure of the system during a depressurization. The AD calls for operators to "ensure passenger service unit (PSU) oxygen generators are in the proper position on certain Boeing 737-8, -9, -8200, -700, -800, and –900ER series airplanes". It was "prompted by multiple reports of passenger service unit (PSU) oxygen generators shifting out of position within their associated PSU assemblies because of a retention failure". Boeing has investigated the condition and found that the oxygen generator retention failures were caused by a failure of the pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) material on certain generator strap thermal pads, the AD goes on to say. Cirium has contacted Boeing for comment. Operators affected by the AD will be required to undertake a visual inspection of the PSA to ensure that the thermal pad configuration and the retention straps are in the correct positions, and if not to take corrective action. "The oxygen generator is secured to the PSU assembly by two retention straps, with either PSA or non-PSA thermal pads. For all reported failures, the PSA thermal pad configurations were under the retention straps," the AD states. "This condition, if not addressed, could result in shifted PSU oxygen generators that might become non-functional, which could result in an inability to provide supplemental oxygen to passengers during a depressurisation event." The AD affects 2,612 US-registered aircraft and requires the inspections and rectification to take place within 120 to 150 days, depending on aircraft configuration.

Garuda Indonesia and Singapore Airlines have received approval from the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) for their commercial joint-venture agreement. The carriers say in a joint press release that the approval allows them to deepen their commercial partnership, including by operating joint revenue-sharing flights between Indonesia and Singapore, co-ordinating flight schedules, and exploring joint sales and marketing initiatives. Garuda and SIA signed the agreement in May 2023. The airlines codeshare on several flights, including from Bali, Jakarta, Medan, and Surabaya in Indonesia, and on long-haul routes from Singapore to Johannesburg, London Heathrow and Mumbai. "With the CCCS's approval, we are poised to deepen our collaboration across a wider scope of commercial activities," states SIA chief Goh Choon Phong. "Along with the ongoing work to strengthen the links between our frequent-flyer membership programmes, this will provide our customers with even more options and enhanced value."