Flightline 37 - October 9, 2025

South Korea’s Jin Air (LJ) will add a daily sector from Jeju (CJU) to Taipei (TPE) on October 23. This route will be operated by Boeing 737-900ER equipment.

Japan Airlines (JL) is set to add double-daily service from Tokyo Narita (NRT) to Delhi (DEL) on January 17. Boeing 787s will operate these runs.

Riyadh Air (RX) is set to begin daily flights from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (RUH) to London Heathrow (LHR) on October 26. This route will be operated by a Boeing 787-9. However, it appears that the first few weeks of this route will be reserved for employees and a select few on a former Oman Air (WY) frame rather than revenue passengers, almost on proving runs.

Canada’s Air Transat (AT) is converting three routes from Montréal-Trudeau (YUL) from seasonals into year-round operations:

Finally, the Toronto Pearson (YYZ) to Cartagena and on to Medellín route will become a year-round flight as well, with service on Wednesdays.

Icelandair (FI) will add 3× weekly seasonal service from Reykjavik (KEF) to Venice, Italy (VCE) from May 22 through late October. A Boeing 737 MAX 8 will be rostered on this sector.

Eurowings (EW) is adding several dozen seasonal routes next summer; Aeroroutes.com has a comprehensive list — click that link if you are interested.

Air Transat will add Thursday seasonal service from Quebec City (YQB) to Marseille, France (MRS) next summer. Flights will begin on May 21 and conclude on October 8. The airline is also set to start a 3× weekly sector from Ottawa (YOW) to London Gatwick (LGW) on May 15. Additionally, Air Transat is adding a seasonal flight from Ottawa to Montréal-Trudeau (YUL) from May 5 through October 23.

IndiGo (6E) will begin daily flights from Mumbai (BOM) to London Heathrow (LHR) on October 26. This route will be operated by wet-leased Norse Atlantic Airways (N0) Boeing 787-9 equipment.

Neos (NO) flew its final Amritsar, India (ATQ) to Toronto Pearson (YYZ) flight yesterday. The Boeing 787-9, which included a refueling stop at Milan Malpensa (MXP), was discontinued due to insufficient load factors.

A United Airlines (UA) flight taxiing at Houston Intercontinental (IAH) made headlines Sunday night when a passenger attempted to open a cabin door while the aircraft was moving between the runway and gate. The individual was later escorted to a hospital for evaluation before being taken into custody by authorities. Details remain limited: no motive has been revealed, the number of passengers aboard has not been disclosed, and official charging decisions are pending.

CATSA screeners cleared 5,680,940 passengers at Canada’s 17 largest airports in September, a 4.4 percent annual increase. For the first nine months of 2025, traffic is up just over two percent to 49,720,389.

The Norwegian Group announced its September traffic results, with Norwegian (D8) carrying 2,302,536 passengers, while subsidiary Widerøe (WF)transported 395,637 passengers, bringing the Group total to 2,698,173 passengers. Those figures translated into system-wide load factors of 86.6 percent for the former and 73.4 percent for the latter.

🍺 Air Canada (AC) is now offering free beer and wine to all passengers, including Economy, on domestic Canadian and transborder flights to the U.S.

China Eastern Airlines (MU) flew 14,433,860 passengers in August, a four percent year-on-year increase. System-wide load factor for the month was 88.3 percent. For the first eight months of 2025, the Chinese major recorded a seven percent annual uptick in passenger traffic to 101,328,260, filling just over 85 percent of its available revenue seats.

Hungary’s Wizz Air (W6) carried 6,265,236 passengers in September, a nearly nine percent annual increase for the month. Nearly 93 percent of Wizz’s available revenue seats were filled during the period.

Mexico’s largest airline, Volaris (Y4), has achieved remarkable savings by turning to artificial intelligence for customer service. Facing soaring call volumes during the pandemic, the carrier set a goal of “call center zero,” moving nearly all customer interactions to digital channels. Partnering with Verint, Volaris developed a system where incoming requests are summarized, matched to policy data, translated, and either fully handled by chatbots or passed to human agents with AI-generated suggestions. The results have been striking: Volaris cut its cost per interaction by seventy percent while tripling the number of inquiries handled through its contact centers. Bot containment rates (cases resolved without human intervention) have climbed from roughly 50-60 percent up to about 90 percent for common needs such as check-in and boarding pass issues. The airline credits its success to making AI central to its customer strategy rather than an add-on, and to treating Verint as a strategic collaborator instead of a simple vendor. Volaris says the shift has lowered costs, improved satisfaction, and even generated enough revenue to cover operating expenses, offering a blueprint for other airlines looking to make AI a true value driver rather than a cost-cutting experiment.

UPDATE: 🏆 The Airbus A320 family has officially surpassed the Boeing 737 series to become the world’s all-time best-selling commercial jet family. Airbus reached the milestone Monday (details in our Aircraft Deliveries section) as cumulative A320-family deliveries exceeded those of Boeing’s 737 line, which first took flight in 1967. The A320, which debuted in 1988 as Airbus’s first narrowbody and the pioneer of digital fly-by-wire controls, has grown into a dominant global platform through the A318, A319, A320, and A321 variants, including the fuel-efficient neo series. Boeing’s 737 family, long the standard bearer for short- and medium-haul operations, now trails despite its earlier start and continuous evolution through the MAX line, underscoring how Airbus’s consistent production tempo and market share gains have reshaped the single-aisle landscape.

NOT ON THE LIST: In the latest International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) General Assembly, Russia’s attempt to regain a seat on ICAO’s 36-member governing council was rejected. Russia fell short by six votes (receiving 87 votes vs the required 93) after having lost its seat in 2022 in the fallout from its invasion of Ukraine and the seizure of leased aircraft. Opposition from many countries, especially in the U.S. and Europe, cited concerns over aviation safety violations, interference with GPS systems, and Moscow’s broader conduct in airspace as key reasons for denying its return.

On the issue of pilot retirement age, ICAO declined to raise the current global mandatory age from sixty-five to sixty-seven. The proposal, whic hwas backed by IATA and some airlines as a way to relieve pilot staffing pressures, met strong pushback from pilot unions, who warned of heightened health and cognitive risks, and questioned the safety data supporting the increase. As a result, the status quo remains: pilots over sixty-five continue to be barred from international airline operations under ICAO rules.

Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority has suspended Serene Air’s (ER) Air Operator Certificate, grounding all of the carrier’s flights after finding that none of its fleet were in a serviceable condition. The regulator cited Serene’s failure to maintain the minimum required fleet size, declaring that the airline has “zero serviceable aircraft available for operations.” Previously operating both domestic and international routes, the airline’s abrupt suspension has left passengers stranded.

Embraer delivered 62 aircraft in Q3 2025, matching its strong performance earlier in the year. The total for the first nine months includes 46 commercial jets, leaving the company well-positioned to reach its full-year target of 77 to 85 commercial deliveries. The 2025 cadence continues to lean on demand for the E-Jet family and business aviation lines, as the firm balances commercial growth with supply chain discipline.

Airbus delivered a record 73 aircraft in September 2025, marking its strongest month of the year. That brought total deliveries to 507 jets through the first nine months, well ahead of the company’s pace earlier in the year. Airbus said the number of “gliders,” meaning fully assembled airframes awaiting engines, has declined from about 60 as engine availability continues to improve. With a year-end goal of approximately 820 deliveries, Airbus needs around 313 more aircraft in the fourth quarter to reach that target. September’s strong performance suggests supply chain conditions are improving and Airbus is on a steady path toward meeting its full-year objective.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) said that subsidies under the Essential Air Service (EAS) program, which are designed to guarantee commercial air service to rural and remote communities, are set to expire this Sunday amid the ongoing government shutdown. Without renewed funding, carriers operating under EAS risk flying at their own expense, and routes may be suspended. The move could disrupt connectivity for dozens of U.S. communities that depend on subsidized service, many of which lack viable alternative airline operations.

Hawaiian Airlines (HA) has picked up F-HSKY, a former Corsair (SS) Airbus A330-343. The aircraft has been re-registered as N7019K and was flown earlier this month to Shanghai Hongqiao (SHA) for conversion into a freighter. Once complete, it will join Hawaiian’s A330 freighter fleet operating for Amazon Prime Air.

🇮🇪 EI-ILL, a Boeing 737 MAX 8, was delivered to Ryanair (FR) on October 6.

🇬🇧 G-TNEI, an Airbus A321-251neo, was delivered to British Airways (BA) on October 8.

🇸🇦 HZ-NS95, an Airbus A320-251neo, was delivered to Flynas (XY) on October 6. This aircraft marked the milestone that put the Airbus A320 family ahead of the Boeing 737 as the most delivered jet in commercial aviation history.

🇯🇴 JY-RAF, an Airbus A320-271neo, was delivered to Royal Jordanian Airlines (RJ) on October 8.

🇺🇸 N313UR, a Boeing 737 MAX 8, was delivered to American Airlines (AA) on October 7.

🇺🇸 N812UP, a Boeing 737 MAX 8, was delivered to American Airlines on October 7.

🇺🇸 N897AK, a Boeing 737 MAX 8, was delivered to Alaska Airlines (As) on October 7.

🇲🇽 XA-VUX, an Airbus A321-271neo, was delivered to Volaris (Y4) on October 7.

🇺🇸 N429UA, an Airbus A320-232 with United Airlines, was withdrawn from use (wfu) and ferried on October 6 to Victorville, Calif. (VCV) for part-out and scrap. This frame was delivered new to United on June 23, 1995 had accumulated 93,170 hours and 37,615 cycles as of August 16.

🇮🇩 PK-AZR, an Airbus A320-216 with Indonesia AirAsia (QZ), was wfu and ferried on October 6 to Glamorgan, Wales (DGX) for part-out and scrap.

🇦🇺 VH-YXU, an Airbus A320-232 with Jetstar Airways (JQ), was wfu and ferried on October 6 to Toulouse Francazal, France (QYF) where it was returned to its lessor.