Informer Cyprian

Iran partially reopened its airspace on Saturday to international flights crossing the eastern part of its territory, the country's Civil Aviation Authority said.

🛑Lufthansa hasn’t fully “shut down” a regional subsidiary yet, but it’s making major cuts and centralizing control. Here’s what’s happening:

1. Lufthansa CityLine fleet withdrawals.
This week, Lufthansa confirmed it’s *permanently withdrawing 27 aircraft from CityLine service*. The reason: rising jet fuel prices and extra costs from industrial action/strikes. CityLine is Lufthansa’s main regional carrier operating CRJ900s and Embraer 190s on feeder routes.

2. Lufthansa Regional brand disappearing..
Lufthansa Regional was the umbrella for feeders like CityLine and Air Dolomiti. Since early 2018, Lufthansa has been removing the "Regional" branding. Repainted aircraft now just say "Lufthansa" and the Regional titles are gone. It’s still an operational setup with CityLine + Air Dolomiti, but not a public brand anymore.

3. Group-wide centralization from 2026.
Bigger shift: Lufthansa Group announced that from January 2026, *subsidiaries like Austrian, Swiss, Brussels, and CityLine will lose decision-making power*. Network planning, sales, and capacity for short/medium-haul will be controlled centrally by the Group. The subsidiaries will mainly just handle passengers on board and flight ops.

4. Narrowbody fleet cuts at mainline
Lufthansa Airlines plans to fly _40% fewer narrowbodies_ by 2028 — down to 250 short-haul aircraft — while subsidiaries and partners expand. So the regional flying shifts away from mainline.

🛑Why the cuts?
Lufthansa is dealing with:
📌Fuel costs: Hedging expired and fuel must be bought at higher market rates.
📌Labor costs: Strikes by pilots/flight attendants disrupted CityLine operations
📌 Aviation tax: Germany’s tax hikes led to ∼100 weekly domestic cancellations from summer 2025, hitting regional airports like Bremen, Dresden, Münster
📌 Efficiency push: CEO wants 8-10% operating margin by 2028-2030 and is cutting 4,000 admin jobs.

*So “shut down” is strong* — CityLine still exists, but 27 planes are gone, branding is removed, and control is moving to Frankfurt. The regional flying is being squeezed by costs and consolidated into the Group structure.

Lufthansa is phasing out the 747-400, but "struggling" isn't quite the reason. It's part of a planned fleet modernization to cut costs and boost efficiency.

🛑 What Lufthansa announced:
📌747-400 retirement: All remaining Boeing 747-400s will be retired by 2027-2028. Lufthansa still has 8 in the fleet, averaging 24+ years old
📌Grounding next: The airline confirmed it will remove two 747-400s from scheduled service next year, along with selling two 747-8s
📌 Broader phase-out: The 747-400 is one of six widebody types Lufthansa Group plans to retire by 2028: A340-600, A330-200, A340-300, 767-300, 747-400, and 777-200 2ad68fc6b708222f

🛑 Why they're retiring them:
1. Age & costs: The 747-400s are 24-28 years old. High maintenance needs, long ground time, and fuel burn well below modern twins like A350/787
2. Efficiency: Four engines are outdated by today's standards. Even vs the 747-8, they waste fuel
3. Replacement jets: Being swapped for 777-9s, A350-1000s, and 787-9s. Lufthansa has 20 777-9s on order and should get the first in 2026
4. Fleet simplification: Goal is to cut from 13 passenger aircraft types to fewer, reducing complexity across maintenance, crewing, and spares.

🛑Timeline depends on Boeing: 747-400 retirement is tied to 777-9 deliveries. Boeing CEO said they're hopeful to finish 777X certification flight tests by end of this year and start deliveries next year. If 777-9s slip, the 747-400s stick around longer. ec06

🛑NOTE: Lufthansa is _not_ retiring the newer 747-8. The 19 747-8s are ∼9 years old and will fly into the 2030s with cabin upgrades. Two 747-8s are being sold though — possibly to the U.S. Air Force for Air Force One parts

So less "struggling" and more "finally cashing in on paid-off jets now that efficient replacements exist". The 747-400s only stayed this long because they're fully paid assets.

Israel's El Al just announced a new Boeing 787 order — and it’s a big expansion.

- Up to 12 more 787 Dreamliners worth $1.5 billion.. Exercising options for 6 more 787-9s, plus converting 4 options into the larger 787-10 model.
- El Al also secured options for up to 6 additional 787s.
- 787-10s arrive 2030-2032, and the option jets would come 2033-2035 if exercised.

El Al currently operates 17 787s and plans to hit 28 by the end of the decade, eventually up to 34. CEO Levy Halevy said expanding the 787 fleet is "a key step in our strategy to build a modern, profitable and market-leading airline".

El Al has been an all-Boeing airline since 1948, and all their 787s use Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines...

Kenya Airways Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner at New York JFK International Airport

📸: Edot

Qantas’ first Airbus A350-1000ULR has rolled out of the final assembly line in Toulouse

Spotted on the apron at Toulouse-Blagnac this week.. Heads into ∼2 months of flight testing to certify systems and the ULR modifications before delivery to Qantas’ _Project Sunrise_ — nonstop Sydney-London and Sydney-New York flights up to 22 hours long

Project Sunrise details:
- Qantas has 12 A350-1000ULRs on order, plus 12 standard A350-1000s
- ULR mod: Extra 20,000-litre rear centre fuel tank for ultra-long range
-First delivery end of 2026, commercial Project Sunrise service starting very early 2027
-Will be the world’s longest nonstop flights at 10,573 miles, beating Singapore’s JFK-SIN

The 12 Sunrise jets will be named after stars, honoring Qantas’ WWII “Double Sunrise” Catalina flights that used star navigation

Air India today welcomed its first retrofitted, twin-aisle B787-8 (registered VT-ANT), marking the successful completion of a nose-to-tail cabin refresh of the first of 26 B787 aircraft.

This is just the beginning of a transformed flying experience for guests as these twin-aisle aircraft will serve several long-haul destinations across the UK, Europe, USA and Far East.

The Civil Aviation Affairs at Bahrain’s Ministry of Transportation and Telecommunications has announced the reopening of airspace over Bahrain after a temporary closure.⁠

🇧🇭

STARLUX Airlines has unveiled its second Hajime Sorayama–designed Airbus A350-1000, B-58554, in gold paint at Airbus Toulouse, following the earlier silver livery.

Iraq has withdrawn the NOTAM closing airspace in the country, though commercial flights have not yet resumed. Airspace in neighboring Kuwait and the section of Saudi Arabia bordering Iraq remains closed.

U.S. officials confirmed Friday that two U.S. rescue helicopters involved in the search and rescue efforts for an F-15 fighter jet downed earlier on Friday were struck by Iranian fire, according to U.S. media reports.