A change of direction for British Airways, forward planning from Etihad and worrying times for Air Baltic...

British Airways schedule adjustments for the summer make a lot of commercial sense. Dropping capacity to the Middle East and doubling down on services to

hashtag#India will allow the dust to settle and, at the same time, allow the airline to pick up some of the displaced sixth freedom flows from India to points in Europe and North America. Will all those dropped flights return? Probably not in the long run.

Etihad announces a strategic partnership with China Eastern and an expansion of services to China, some of which will not launch until March 2027, so certainly forward planning! hashtag#Etihad is a bit player in the China market at the moment, and this development will double down on their share of frequency, but it’s unlikely to rattle either Emirates or Qatar Airways.

And another airline CEO goes…….a resignation this time at South African Airways, a role that comes with more politics than most others. Maybe the next job advert will be positioned as what it really is, a short-term cover position!

airBaltic has called in the advisers! Never a great sign and lots of discussion around where they are going, how can they break even etc. It’s really difficult to build a successful operation when one of your major markets and sources of connecting traffic from Russia has been closed off in recent years, and while opportunistic flying for others and winter crew bases in the Canaries may be creative, they are not long-term solutions. Watch this space for more updates….

And the next round of airport privatisation is about to start in India. Global players have already expressed interest in the auction, and from our particular market experience in the last few years, we can see where the opportunities are and what to watch out for...