San Diego’s New Terminal, Airlines Scrapping Amenity Kits and Boarding Passes, and Other News You Might’ve Missed

We’re back again with another weekly roundup. Changes were afoot for both airports and airlines this week as San Diego opened its new passenger terminal, Fiji Airways decided to scrap business class amenity kits, LATAM announced an interesting order of planes, and more.

Let’s dive in.

San Diego’s New Terminal Opens to Passengers

It was a huge week for San Diego International Airport (SAN).

After the first phase of construction was recently completed, the new Terminal 1 opened its doors to passengers for the first time.

T1, as it’s known, served its first full day of operations on Tuesday, September 23. It replaces the old Terminal 1, which was built in 1967 and had become known for large crowds as its size and layout struggled to keep up with today’s high demand for travel.

“The existing Terminal 1 has served our community for more than five decades, and today we are ushering in a new era,” said Kimberly Becker, president and CEO at San Diego County Regional Airport. “The New T1 provides the comfort, convenience, and efficiency travelers expect while reflecting the spirit of San Diego.”

Phase 1A features 69 check-in kiosks, 19 gates, and 13 security lanes. Phase 1B is expected to get underway early in 2026 and be completed by 2028. Once finished, T1 will have 30 gates in operation.

Fiji Airways Scraps Business Class Amenity Kits

Amenity kits are somewhat of a prerequisite when it comes to flying in premium cabins. The contents of an amenity kit — and whether or not an airline partners with a high-end brand — can say a lot about the level of luxury the airline wants to offer its passengers.

Fiji Airways is set to take a different approach by removing amenity kits from its business class, at least in the traditional sense. Rather than handing out prepacked kits, Fiji’s cabin crew will pass through the cabin and offer passengers a selection of items.

The airline is making the decision on a financial basis after concluding that the majority of its passengers leave the kits onboard, thus wasting money that could be invested elsewhere.

“We’ve been measuring for years now how many people take the amenity kit home and actually value it, and the number that are left behind,” said Andre Viljoen, outgoing CEO at Fiji Airways.

More importantly, on an environmental level, if passengers only select items that they’ll use, this should significantly reduce the amount of waste created per flight.

However, rather than scrapping the kit completely, Fiji Airways could rethink the initiative slightly, at least offering the kit pouches separately for those who will make use of them.

LATAM Airlines Confirms Order of Embraer R195 Aircraft

Heading to South America now, Santiago-headquartered LATAM Airlines announced a significant update to its fleet to the tune of $2.1 billion.

The largest airline in South America, which currently only operates Airbus A320 family aircraft on short-haul routes, has confirmed an order of up to 74 Embraer E195-E2 aircraft.

The first 24 aircraft are scheduled to be delivered in 2026 and will be used primarily by LATAM Airlines Brasil, which is also the country where Embraer aircraft are manufactured.

The smaller size of the aircraft and its ability to use runways that are more challenging operationally mean LATAM will be able to significantly increase its South American route network.

“Over the past four years, LATAM group has focused on expanding its domestic and regional network, creating the most comprehensive and seamless way of travelling within South America,” said Roberto Alvo, LATAM Airlines Group CEO.

In total, the airline hopes the aircraft will help achieve its goals of adding up to 35 new destinations on the continent — which can help it compete with domestic rivals GOL and Azul.

Ryanair Scraps Boarding Passes

Irish ultra-low-cost airline Ryanair is making a drastic change: From November 12, 2025, physical boarding passes will be completely scrapped, and check-in desks will go away — moves originally predicted for October.

Passengers will only have access to their boarding passes via the myRyanair app.

The move by Europe’s largest airline (by passenger numbers) means passengers without smartphones simply won’t be able to fly. This could seriously impact an older generation of passengers who don’t own a smartphone.

“Ryanair’s move to 100% digital boarding passes will mean a faster, smarter, and greener travel experience for our customers,” said Dara Brady, Ryanair’s chief marketing officer.

It will be interesting to see if U.S. low-cost carriers will copy Ryanair’s bold move.

Lufthansa Announces New Service Product FOX

To celebrate its centenary, Lufthansa is spending approximately $19.8 million redeveloping its onboard customer experience over the next year.

Similar to its close airline counterpart, SWISS, which recently launched SWISS Senses, Lufthansa’s version of its new passenger experience also has a name: FOX.

FOX stands for Future Onboard Experience and entails changes in all cabin classes that give passengers more control over their individual in-flight experience. Examples include an increase of meal choices from 2 to 3 in economy, and in business class, the second in-flight meal will become dine-on-demand.

The rollout of FOX is expected to start in spring 2026.

Air Canada Adds Dublin as Next A321XLR Transatlantic Destination

Air Canada is the latest airline to jump on the trend of operating narrow-body aircraft on long-haul routes. Dublin, Ireland (DUB) has just been revealed as the fourth destination that its version of the A321XLR will fly from Montreal (YUL).

The Canadian flag carrier has been drip-feeding destinations that the plane will fly to, which now include Dublin and Toulouse, France, from May 15; Palma de Mallorca, Spain (PMI) from June 17; and Edinburgh, Scotland (EDI) from June 18, 2026. As always with airline schedules, these dates are subject to change.

The airline has a firm order for 30 A321XLRs with Airbus, scheduled to be delivered between 2026 and 2028. Eventually, the aircraft will replace Air Canada’s fleet of Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, which will transition to operate for Air Canada Rouge, the airline’s leisure branch.

Final Thoughts

This week’s news highlights the dynamism of the airline and aviation world. As San Diego opens a new terminal to meet demand, LATAM and Air Canada are focusing on new aircraft types that will help them focus on more niche routes with less demand.

And as for Ryanair and Fiji Airways, whether you view scrapping physical boarding passes and business class amenity kits as cost-saving for the airline or a sustainability move, both could be considered positive changes.