Airline News in Brief 29 July 2026

Etihad Airways strengthens its African network: Etihad Airways has signed three African partnership agreements in July: an interline agreement with Fastjet in Zimbabwe earlier this month, followed by agreements with Air Peace in Nigeria and Africa World Airlines in Ghana. Together with the six African destinations Etihad announced in April, the agreements mean guests will connect across the continent from the day the new routes begin. The interline agreement with Air Peace, Nigeria’s largest airline, signed in Lagos on 22 July, opens 20 destinations across Nigeria, West and Central Africa to Etihad’s guests. The Memorandum of Understanding with Africa World Airlines, the Accra-based carrier serving Ghana and the wider region, signed in Accra on 24 July, sets out cooperation across codeshare, interline, cargo and loyalty. The week completes a month of partnership building that began with Fastjet Zimbabwe, whose network extends Etihad’s reach into Southern Africa ahead of the airline’s Harare flights. The July agreements also build on Etihad’s strategic joint venture partnership with Ethiopian Airlines, and together they let Etihad carry its guests far beyond the destinations it serves with its own aircraft. Flydubai resumes flights to Budapest: Flydubai has announced the resumption of its direct flights between Dubai International (DXB) and Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport (BUD) from 31 July. The reinstated route restores vital non-stop connectivity between the United Arab Emirates and Hungary. Serving leisure, business and VFR (Visiting Friends & Relatives) segments during the peak summer period, the service opens seamless access to Dubai and a broader global network of more than 120 destinations. Ghaith Al Ghaith, Chief Executive Officer at flydubai, said: “The resumption of our Budapest service reaffirms our long-term investment in Hungary and reflects the strong economic and cultural ties between our two nations. Budapest remains one of our most strategic European markets. Reconnecting the Hungarian capital to Dubai enables us to offer greater choice for regional travellers while further solidifying Dubai’s position as a global hub for business, trade and tourism.” Royal Air Maroc adds four new European destinations: Royal Air Maroc is expanding its European network this summer with four new destinations that strengthen both its passenger offering and its belly cargo capacity. The airline has added specific locations in Spain, Italy and France, that combine strong leisure appeal, diaspora links and regional trade potential. These will primarily be served with Boeing 737 aircraft, offering up to 3 tonnes of cargo capacity per flight, and feeding seamlessly into Royal Air Maroc’s extensive long-haul widebody and freighter network out of its Casablanca hub. Two Spanish, one Italian, and one French destination were chosen: Bilbao, Alicante, Verona and Lille. Bilbao joins Madrid, Barcelona and Seville, strengthening Royal Air Maroc’s presence in northern Spain, while Alicante targets the Costa Blanca tourist region and connects the local Moroccan diaspora. In June 2026, Verona became Royal Air Maroc’s eighth destination in Italy, alongside Rome, Milan, Bologna, Naples, Catania, Turin and Venice. And in July, Lille offers much-requested cargo capacity from northern France and also serves the Moroccan diaspora in the region. Qatar Airways Cargo grows global network: Qatar Airways Cargo has relaunched operations across Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe and the Middle East. As part of these enhancements, seasonal Boeing 777 freighter services have been deployed to London in July on the Doha-London Heathrow-Paris-Doha and Doha-London Heathrow-Milan-Doha routings, further strengthening capacity into the UK and Europe. Additional network enhancements include increased capacity to Dallas, Brussels and Tokyo, alongside expanded frequencies to Dhaka and Entebbe, providing more than 300 tonnes and 216 tonnes of weekly cargo capacity each way respectively, enabling greater flexibility to meet growing customer demand across the global network. Complementing Qatar Airways Cargo’s freighter operations, the passenger network has resumed services to several destinations in July 2026, including Casablanca, Kuala Lumpur and Helsinki. These additions increase frequencies across key destinations while adding significant belly-hold cargo capacity across strategic global markets, strengthening the carrier’s ability to support customer demand and facilitate global trade. Emirates and Crypto.com give customers a new way to pay: Emirates has officially launched Crypto.com Pay, allowing its customers to use the digital payment solution on the airline’s website and app platforms. Customers with a Crypto.com account booking on emirates.com and the Emirates App can now select Crypto.com Pay at checkout, with transactions processed in compliance with UAE regulatory standards. Crypto.com Pay is available to eligible UAE residents for bookings priced and settled in Emirati Dirham (AED). The launch marks the implementation of a partnership between Crypto.com and Emirates announced in July 2025, when a Memorandum of Understanding was signed to explore the integration of Crypto.com Pay™ into the airline’s digital payment systems. “Bringing this initiative to life delivers on our commitment to expanding customer choice in how they pay for travel. It also reflects the rapidly evolving preferences of a younger, digitally fluent generation who manage their money and plan their journeys primarily from their phones and they expect the airlines they fly with to keep pace,” said Adnan Kazim, Emirates’ Deputy President and Chief Commercial Officer. “Moving from signature to launch with Crypto.com in under a year is a credit to both teams, and to a regulatory environment that makes this kind of innovation possible, reflecting the UAE’s and Dubai’s ambition to lead in fintech and the digital economy.” Air India launches ‘Easy Connect’ flights from Amritsar: Air India has inaugurated ‘Easy Connect’ services from Amritsar, further expanding the Government of India’s transformative hub-and-spoke model and bringing global connectivity closer to travellers across Punjab. The launch marks an important step forward in the initiative’s nationwide rollout announced in June 2026. As part of the Easy Connect programme, international travellers from Amritsar can complete through check-in to their final destinations, clear immigration formalities at Amritsar airport, and enjoy seamless transfers through Delhi without having to re-check baggage or change terminals. This enables travellers to fly via Delhi as international transit passengers, eliminating the need for repeated processes and significantly reducing travel complexity and unfamiliarity often associated with connecting through foreign airports, including foreign language barriers. Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu, Hon’ble Minister of Civil Aviation, Government of India, said: “The expansion of hub-and-spoke operations to Amritsar is another step towards our vision of building an aviation network that truly serves a New India – one where global access is no longer confined to a handful of metropolitan centres but extends to every region of the country. By strengthening connectivity through Indian hubs, we are strengthening the foundation for a more integrated, accessible, and globally competitive aviation ecosystem.” For Editorial Inquiries Contact: Editor Matt Driskill at [email protected] For Advertising Inquiries Contact: Head of Sales Sally Passey at [email protected]