American F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets were used in the operation, the US Central Command added.

Budget airlines need to pay the same prices for airport space, jet fuel and labor as the big players do, said Mike Boyd of Boyd Group International, an aviation consulting firm.

If those construction projects become too much of a headache, Bezos can kick back on a flight in his $80 million private jet he purchased in August.

The Malaysian government says it has agreed in principle to resume the search for a passenger jet that vanished ten years ago in one of aviation's greatest mysteries.

With Chinese- and Russian-made fighter jets, it is in the air that it has the upper hand.