Category Airline, Technology, Organisations & Operators

AirHelp, the world’s leading air passenger rights platform, today announced that its independent flight tracking app has reached one million users in just 12 months – a milestone that reflects a fundamental shift in how travellers manage disruption.
As airlines continue to face challenges in real-time communication, passengers are increasingly seeking independent data to track flights, monitor disruptions and protect their schedules.
Over the past year, app users conducted more than five million searches for flight numbers, airline and airports – and nearly half (46%) were monitoring someone else’s journey, suggesting that live, independent flight data has become a way for people to track loved ones rather than wait on carrier updates.

United is accelerating the rollout of fast, free Starlink Wi-Fi for MileagePlus members as United flight 14 is set to depart Newark/New York for London this evening aboard a Boeing 777-200, marking the airline’s first transatlantic widebody customer flight equipped with Starlink and the first of nearly 60 United widebody aircraft expected to have Starlink this year. United expects to have its entire widebody fleet outfitted by next summer as the airline expands Starlink’s high-speed, reliable internet across its fleet.

Otto Aerospace has announced a major regulatory milestone for its flagship Phantom 3500 program: closure of the G-1 Issue Paper, which establishes the aircraft’s Certification Basis with the Federal Aviation Administration under 14 CFR Part 23.

Finalization of the G-1 Issue Paper marks a major step in the Phantom 3500 program by clearly establishing the regulatory framework for type certification.

Electra, the global leader in hybrid-electric aviation, today unveiled a new conceptual aircraft design for next-generation airliners developed as part of NASA’s Advanced Aircraft Concepts for Environmental Sustainability (AACES) 2050 program. The study explores how targeted electrification, advanced aerodynamics, and integrated airframe-propulsion design can transform the efficiency and competitiveness of aircraft with 100+ passengers by mid-century.

LOT Polish Airlines has launched a partnership with ElevenLabs as part of the company’s technological development strategy. The cooperation aims to further enhance the quality and accessibility of customer service through the development of modern solutions and communication channels for passengers. The tool provided by ElevenLabs complements the existing customer service model, increasing operational efficiency while maintaining a high-quality passenger experience.

In an era when digitalisation is accelerating, computing power is more than ever a critical differentiator. The deployment of Airbus’ new generation high-performance computing (HPC6) supercomputers shows how supercomputers can offer a massive leap in capacity, representing a new step toward full digital enablement and bringing more efficient and quiet aircraft to market, faster.

Today, Wizz Air announces plans to roll out Starlink connectivity across its fleet in 2027, becoming the first European ultra-low-cost carrier to bring Starlink’s advanced in-flight internet technology to millions of travellers.

This announcement marks a significant milestone not only for Wizz Air, but for the evolution of affordable and always-connected air travel.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released estimates showing that global Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) production is expected to reach around 2.4 million tonnes in 2026, representing just 0.8% of aviation fuel use, at a cost to airlines of $4.3 billion.

Raven, the aviation growth specialists, today launched the Customer Growth Index (CGI) at the 82nd IATA Annual General Meeting in Rio de Janeiro: a single, comparable rating of the digital experience that wins or loses airline bookings. The CGI scores carriers on four measures of airlines’ digital estates – speed, accessibility, booking flow and AI findability – and ranks each one against a bespoke competitive set matched by both business model and geography. In practice, this means a low-cost carrier is judged against comparable low-cost carriers in the same region rather than against a long-haul flag carrier or an operator in another market.

Panasonic Avionics Corporation (Panasonic Avionics), the world’s leading provider of in-flight engagement and connectivity (IFEC) solutions, today announced that its Astrova in-flight engagement (IFE) solution and its Modular Interactive (MI) platform have entered commercial service with Azerbaijan Airlines onboard the carrier’s Airbus A320neo family fleet.