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Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT), via its official Facebook account, announced (11-Mar-2025) the US FAA conducted a final inspection as part of a process aiming to upgrade Thailand's aviation safety rating to Category 1. CAAT said the US FAA will announce a final result within 30 days. As previously reported by CAPA, the US FAA downgraded Thailand to Category 2 in 2015 due to non-compliance with ICAO standards. Thailand had previously held a Category 1 rating since 1997. Regaining the status would also enable Thai carriers to launch new routes to the US and participate in codeshare agreements with US based carriers.

Boeing, via its official website, reported (11-Mar-2025) the following commercial aircraft orders and deliveries for Feb-2025:

• Gross orders: 13 aircraft;
  • BOC Aviation: Five 737 MAXs;
  • Unidentified customer(s): Eight 737 MAXs;
• Deliveries: 40 aircraft;
  • 9 Air: One 737 MAX;
  • AerCap: One 737 MAX;
  • Air China Cargo: One 777F;
  • Air India: Four 737 MAXs;
  • Air Lease Corporation: Five 737 MAXs and one 787-10;
  • Allegiant Air: Two 737 MAXs;
  • American Airlines: Three 737 MAXs;
  • Aviation Capital Group: One 737 MAX;
  • BOC Aviation: Two 737 MAXs;
  • China Eastern Airlines: One 737 MAX and one 787-9;
  • China Southern Airlines: One 777F;
  • Dubai Aerospace Enterprise: Two 737 MAXs;
  • EVA Air: One 787-9;
  • FedEx Express: One 767-300F;
  • Jackson Square Aviation: One 737 MAX;
  • JEJU air: One 737 MAX;
  • Juneyao Air: One 787-9;
  • Ryanair: One 737 MAX;
  • United Airlines: Four 737 MAXs and one 787-9;
  • UPS: One 767-300F;
  • Xiamen Airlines: Two 737 MAXs.

Wizz Air, via its official Instagram account, announced (10-Mar-2025) only card payments will be accepted onboard from 01-Apr-2025, including Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Android Pay and Google Pay. The carrier also accepts Revolut cards, in addition to VISA and Mastercard.

Blade Air Mobility partnered (10-Mar-2025) with Skyports Infrastructure to establish a pilot programme to launch electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) transfer operations between New York John F Kennedy International Airport and Downtown Manhattan Heliport. The service is scheduled to launch in Apr-2025, operating on weekdays and transporting passengers transferring to/from flights at New York JFK, as well as Long Island and Queens residents commuting to/from Manhattan. The pilot programme aims to gather data on consumer demand, passenger experience and facility logistics, which will help accelerate and derisk the launch of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) operations at the heliport. Skyports director of infrastructure Addison Ferrell stated: "Skyports and Blade are committed to transforming the Downtown Manhattan Heliport into one of the leading Electric Aircraft vertiports in the world". [more - original PR]

Namibia Investment Promotion and Development Board, via its official Facebook account, announced (06-Mar-2025) Namibia plans to implement a visa on arrival scheme from 01-Apr-2025. The scheme will apply to nationals and citizens of countries that do not have visa exemption reciprocity with Namibia.

New Caledonia's Institute of Statistics reported (05-Mar-2025) the following tourism highlights at Noumea Tontouta Airport for Jan-2025:

• Tourist arrivals: 3446, -61.3% year-on-year;
  • France: 1609, -47.9%;
  • Australia: 435, -80.6%;
  • New Zealand: 48, -91.6%. [more - original PR]