Alaska Airlines is inviting guests to embrace adventure and dream big with its newest themed and most enchanting aircraft, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure Flyer.

Qatar Airways and Philippine Airlines have launched a strategic partnership to expand service between Doha and Manila, enabling greater connectivity for passengers from the Philippines traveling to Qatar and onwards to other regions of the world. Starting from 16 June 2025, Philippine Airlines will offer daily nonstop flights between Manila and Doha. Qatar Airways will codeshare on the seven weekly flights operated by Philippine Airlines in the first phase of this strategic cooperation.

Emirates, the world’s largest international airline, has extended its partnership with Olympique Lyonnais, one of the most iconic clubs in the French league. The airline will remain the club’s shirt sponsor for another five years, until the end of the 2029-2030 season. Boutros Boutros, Executive Vice President of Corporate Communications, Marketing and Brand at Emirates said: “We’re pleased to announce our extended commitment to Olympique Lyonnais – one of the most loved and respected teams in France. We began sponsoring Olympique Lyonnais in 2020 and the partnership has yielded significant brand visibility for Emirates. We share values of excellence, community engagement, and an innovative spirit, and we will continue building on our collaborative success. The renewal also reflects our commitment to Lyon, the Rhône Alpes region and to France. We look forward to engaging with and bringing fans from all over the world closer to the action.”

As part of Autism Awareness month, several milestones have been achieved on Emirates’ journey to make travel more accessible for all. One year after Emirates’ first successful ‘travel rehearsal’, the programme is now being rolled out across 17 cities – allowing children with autism to practice the journey through the airport in order to prepare for real flights. Emirates has also achieved its designation as the world’s first Autism Certified Airline™, with more than 30,000 cabin crew and ground staff now trained to support customers with autism. For the month of April, Emirates highlighted autism awareness to millions of passengers globally, showcasing a selection of movies, podcasts and TV shows about neurodiversity on its inflight entertainment system, ice.

United today announced an investment in blended wing body (BWB) aircraft start-up JetZero. The company is creating an aircraft design that has the potential to deliver jet fuel efficiency and a greatly enhanced customer experience. The investment includes a path to order up to 100 airplanes and an option for an additional 100. The conditional purchase agreement is based on JetZero achieving development milestones, including flight of a full-scale demonstrator in 2027, among other conditions, including that the aircraft meet United’s safety, business and operating requirements.

Breaking Travel News’s aviation correspondent Phil Blizzard, ahead of ATM 2025, looks at the development of sports sponsorship by the Middle East aviation sector -  starting with Dubai’s home based Emirates Airline who is the official airline for Arabian Travel Market.