Aviation Capital Group LLC (ACG) has completed a six-aircraft lease transaction with Compagnie Nationale Royal Air Maroc, delivering the final Boeing 737-8 to the Moroccan flag carrier on October 5, 2026.

The handover concludes an orderbook commitment initiated in March 2026, with all six CFM LEAP-1B-powered narrowbodies delivered within a six-month window. Announced in a press release by the Newport Beach, California-based lessor, the transaction provides immediate capacity for Royal Air Maroc as the airline executes a government-backed fleet expansion strategy ahead of the 2030 FIFA World Cup.

Executing the six-aircraft commitment

The delivery sequence began on March 31, 2026, when ACG announced the handover of the first Boeing 737-8 to Royal Air Maroc. Meeting the delivery schedule required coordination between the lessor, the airline, and The Boeing Company to ensure all six airframes entered service efficiently.

Carter A. White, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer of ACG, highlighted the operational coordination required to meet the timeline.

“With this latest delivery, ACG marks the addition of the sixth 737-8 to Royal Air Maroc’s fleet in six months, a fantastic achievement by everyone involved,” White said in a statement. “We are proud to support the airline’s ongoing fleet renewal and expansion plans and wish the Royal Air Maroc team every success with these new aircraft.”

The transaction adds to the portfolio of ACG, a global full-service aircraft asset manager founded in 1989 and operating as a wholly owned subsidiary of Tokyo Century Corporation. As of June 30, 2026, the lessor managed, owned, or had commitments for approximately 500 aircraft. These assets are distributed across roughly 85 airlines in about 50 countries.

Royal Air Maroc’s Vision 2037 expansion

The six leased Boeing 737-8 aircraft serve as a capacity bridge for Royal Air Maroc as it pursues a long-term growth mandate under the leadership of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Abdelhamid Addou. Based at Mohammed V International Airport in Casablanca, the national carrier is operating under a government-backed development program dubbed “Vision 2037,” which was signed in July 2023. The airline is tasked with quadrupling its fleet size to support Morocco’s tourism targets. The country aims to attract 26 million visitors by 2030, the year it will co-host the FIFA World Cup.

According to reporting by Le360, Royal Air Maroc operated approximately 50 aircraft in 2021. The airline reached a fleet size of 70 aircraft in late September 2026 following the delivery of another Boeing 737 MAX 8, registered as CN-RHS. The carrier targets a total fleet of 74 aircraft by the end of 2026 and 88 aircraft by 2027, with an ultimate goal of 200 aircraft by 2037.

To secure the necessary airframes for the 2037 target, Royal Air Maroc launched a tender in April 2024 to acquire up to 200 aircraft directly from major manufacturers. While the airline evaluates those long-term procurement options, leasing agreements provide the short- and medium-term lift required to maintain network growth.

The capacity additions are already supporting new route development. Aviation Week reported that Royal Air Maroc has actively expanded its network throughout 2026. This expansion included the launch of a direct route from Casablanca to Los Angeles in June 2026 utilizing Boeing 787 aircraft, alongside planned frequency increases to destinations across Europe and Africa.

Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) officially opened a 25,400-square-meter cargo terminal at Lyon-Saint Exupéry Airport (LYS) on September 30, 2026, consolidating its regional operations into a single facility directly connected to the runways.

The new Aéroport de Lyon DC1 terminal becomes the company’s second-largest operation in France, designed to support the region’s high-value pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors with specialized temperature-controlled infrastructure. In a press release issued to mark the opening, WFS confirmed the facility was developed in collaboration with Aéroports de Lyon, logistics real estate firm Prologis, and the em2c Group.

Facility specifications and regional impact

The Aéroport de Lyon DC1 facility features 36 door docks to handle cargo imports and exports. Five of these docks are dedicated specifically to air freight pallet transfers. A central component of the new terminal is its 4,400 square meters of cold rooms. This temperature-controlled space is dedicated to specialized and sensitive cargo, catering directly to the surrounding region’s status as a major industrial base and leading vaccine-producing area.

The terminal sustains more than 300 direct and indirect jobs and supports 380 WFS customers in the Lyon area.

Laurent Bernard, Vice-President of WFS France, outlined the operational focus of the new site.

“Aéroport de Lyon DC1 represents a new milestone for WFS in Lyon, where we first commenced operations in 1971. Its design, temperature-controlled areas, and organisation of cargo flows enable us to strengthen our capacity and operational efficiency to handle sensitive and high value goods for our airline and freight forwarder customers. Given Lyon’s strategically important location, industrial base, and high-value economic sectors, this new generation of logistics infrastructure reinforces Lyon’s position in national and European logistics flows and will strengthen the economic attractiveness of the region.”

Construction and environmental design

The development of the terminal was executed through a partnership involving WFS, Aéroports de Lyon, logistics real estate developer Prologis, and the em2c Group. The project aligns with the broader expansion of Cargoport, the designated freight zone at LYS, which operates as the second-largest air cargo aircraft hub in France.

Cedric Fechter, Chairman of the Management Board for Aéroports de Lyon, stated the project epitomizes the regional supply chain and significantly strengthens local competitiveness.

The facility incorporates specific environmental performance metrics established during the construction phase. The building is targeting a ‘Very Good’ rating under the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) sustainability certification. The structure also features a solar-ready roof designed to accommodate future photovoltaic installations.

Vincent Sadé, Vice President and Head of Capital Deployment France for Prologis, noted the integration of the facility into the operator’s workflow.

“Aéroport de Lyon DC1 illustrates how our business is evolving: beyond the building itself, we design infrastructure that is directly integrated into our customers’ operations. Our role was to align the specific constraints of the airport environment, real estate requirements and WFS’s operational needs to create a tailored, high performing solution built to last.”

SATS integration and European network growth

WFS has maintained a presence in Lyon since 1971. The company secured its long-term position at the new LYS terminal by signing a 20-year lease, a commitment initially announced on June 19, 2025.

The opening of the Lyon facility occurs within the context of broader corporate consolidation and network expansion. On April 3, 2023, Singapore-based SATS Ltd. completed its acquisition of WFS for an enterprise value of €2.25 billion. WFS now operates as a fully owned subsidiary of SATS. The combined global network encompasses more than 215 stations across 27 countries. The corporate group reports that its network covers trade routes responsible for more than 50 percent of global air cargo volume.

The Lyon terminal launch follows other recent capacity increases for WFS in the European market. In March 2026, the company completed the acquisition of Aviapartner Cargo NV at Brussels Airport (BRU). That transaction added 33,000 square meters of cargo terminal space to the WFS portfolio, enhancing its operational footprint in Belgium alongside the new developments in France.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has determined that a flight management system software anomaly on certain Boeing 737 MAX aircraft does not constitute a safety-of-flight risk, clearing a critical regulatory hurdle for the certification of the Boeing 737 MAX 10. The decision, reached on October 2, 2026, by the agency’s Corrective Action Review Board (CARB) in Seattle, Washington, resolves a review that had temporarily paused the MAX 10 certification process earlier in the week.

According to Reuters, the ruling also alleviates operational compliance concerns for airlines flying the recently certified Boeing 737 MAX 7, which utilizes the same software version. The FAA paused the certification process for the MAX 10 during the week of September 28, 2026, to allow the CARB to complete a thorough analysis of the software behavior.

Flight management system anomaly details

The software glitch affects the flight management system (FMS) software versions U14 and U14.1, which are supplied to Boeing by GE Aerospace. According to technical details reported by Bloomberg via the Japan Times, the anomaly can cause the vertical navigation (VNAV) mode to disengage during a go-around or missed approach if the flight crew modifies the preprogrammed route. This disengagement forces the autopilot into a simpler level of automation for pitch control, subsequently increasing crew workload during a critical phase of flight.

Pilots at WestJet Airlines Ltd. first identified the software anomaly in 2024 during an entry-into-service validation flight and subsequently reported the behavior to Boeing. Despite the technical fault, the issue has not manifested during standard commercial flights. In an internal staff memo reviewed by Reuters, WestJet noted that the airline “has received no reports of this condition occurring during normal line operations.”

The FAA ultimately concluded that the software behavior does not cross the threshold into a safety-of-flight issue. In a statement provided to Aviation Week, the regulator explained that the CARB reached its determination because flight crews maintain full control of the aircraft, and the system indications presented to the pilots remain “clear and unambiguous.”

Operator impact and fleet status

The FAA certified the Boeing 737 MAX 7 in August 2026 with the affected FMS software installed. Following that certification, Boeing formally notified operators of the potential VNAV disengagement issue. The CARB’s October 2, 2026, determination ensures that the MAX 7 can continue operations without immediate regulatory intervention or grounding orders.

However, the presence of the software has influenced fleet planning for major US carriers. According to reporting by Bloomberg News via TradingView, United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and Alaska Airlines have all confirmed that their active fleets do not utilize the faulty software versions. Furthermore, United Airlines has stated it is not accepting new aircraft equipped with the affected FMS software.

To manage the issue across the broader industry, the FAA is expected to issue a Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB) in October 2026. The bulletin will formally notify US carriers and foreign aviation regulators regarding the technical specifics of the anomaly and the recommended operational procedures.

The Boeing 737 MAX 10 certification path

The Boeing 737 MAX 10 is the largest variant of the manufacturer’s best-selling narrowbody commercial aircraft family. The programme has faced years of certification delays, making the recent regulatory pause a point of significant concern for the aerospace manufacturer. The MAX 10 is critical to Boeing’s long-term production plans and future cash generation.

Boeing currently holds more than 1,500 orders for the MAX 10 variant. With the CARB determination removing the immediate regulatory roadblock, the FAA can resume the certification process. Concurrently, Boeing is developing a permanent software update to address the FMS anomaly, though a specific timeline for the deployment of that patch has not been officially released.

AirPro News analysis

We note that while the FAA’s Corrective Action Review Board has removed the immediate regulatory roadblock for the Boeing 737 MAX 10, a commercial disconnect remains. The regulatory determination that the software is safe for flight does not automatically translate to operator acceptance, as evidenced by United Airlines declining deliveries of aircraft equipped with the current software version. Until Boeing finalizes and deploys its permanent software patch, the manufacturer may face a backlog of completed airframes that airlines are unwilling to induct into their active fleets, potentially delaying the financial benefits of the MAX 10’s eventual certification.