British Airways has advertised job vacancies for "ground taxi pilots" to reposition aircraft between terminals at Chicago O'Hare airport. The Oneworld carrier's flights arrive at O'Hare's Terminal 5 but depart from the Terminal 3 gates of partner American Airlines. IAG subsidiary BA tells Cirium that its recruitment of locally based pilots to taxi aircraft between the terminals is "nothing new". Departures were transferred to Terminal 3 in 2024. The job advert on BA's website indicated that recruits would "play a critical role in helping achieve on-time performance by safely ground taxiing British Airways Boeing 777 and 787 aircraft" at the US hub. It targeted active or former airline transport pilots with "recent experience" as a 777/787 captain or first officer and a "high degree of familiarity with procedures at Chicago O'Hare". Pilots work in pairs to taxi aircraft between the terminals. "You will operate as pilot in command or second pilot during ground taxi operations at Chicago O’Hare airport," says BA. The job was described in the ad as an "exciting opportunity", with an annual base salary of $90,000-100,000 on offer.

Bookings for long-haul flights to Dubai in July are dramatically below last year's levels, with sales down 50% on some routes. Cirium advanced-bookings data shows that for flights from London area airports to Dubai – the busiest corridor into the Middle Eastern hub, with Emirates alone operating 12 services per day up until the start of the outbreak of the Iran war in February – there were around half the bookings in the week to 30 April for July flying dates, compared with the same period of 2025. Likewise, from Paris Charles de Gaulle, the decline over the same period was 47%. Sales from New York area airports were down 54%. A similar dynamic can be seen on routes from Asia. From Singapore, flights booked in the week to 30 April for July travel to Dubai were down 40%, while from Bangkok they were down 54%. Cirium does not publish the number of bookings made within its advance-bookings data, only the changes. The data tracks sales from the three largest global distribution systems but not direct sales with airlines, and thus captures around 40% of the market. The findings demonstrate that despite moves by several Middle Eastern airlines to ramp capacity up quickly as airspace is fully reopened to traffic, it may prove difficult to entice travellers back to the region. Emirates, the largest airline in Dubai and a key player in connecting the region to the world, announced on 4 May that it had returned to near-full operations, with 96% of its global network having been restored. As of that date, the airline was operating to 137 destinations with over 1,300 weekly frequencies. "The airline is offering more flights, more seats and more options each day while reaffirming Dubai's position as a vital hub through which global travel moves," it says. Yet perhaps underlining the fragility of the situation, further missile and drone strikes were reportedly launched by Iran against the UAE on 5 May, causing disruption to flight operations. The UAE's General Civil Aviation Authority lifted airspace restrictions across the country on 3 May, but Cirium data shows that scheduled flights at two key airports are still being reduced. Schedules processed on 1 May show that, compared with the week prior, carriers removed 607 weekly flights that were due to depart or arrive in the UAE from their May schedule. That included 518 removed by Emirates. Cuts were also made by Air India Express, Oman Air and Middle East Airlines. Belarusian carrier Belavia now shows as not operating any flights to Dubai this month, having just recently programmed a daily rotation from Minsk.

The United Arab Emirates General Civil Aviation Authority has lifted airspace restrictions across the country, however scheduled flights at two key airports are still reducing. The GCAA says in a 3 May social media post that there has been a "full resumption of normal air navigation operations across UAE airspace" following an evaluation of operational and security conditions. "Our priority remains the safety of our skies, and we continue to maintain continuous, real-time monitoring to ensure the highest levels of aviation safety for all," it adds. Airspace restrictions and some closures have been in place since the start of the Iran conflict on 28 February, with the UAE coming under repeated missile and drone attacks from Iran in early March, including some that appeared to target operations at Dubai International airport. Despite the positive news, Cirium schedules filings processed on 1 May show that, compared to the week prior, carriers have taken 607 weekly flights that were due to depart or arrive in the UAE from their May schedule. From Dubai, Emirates has pulled 518 weekly flights from its schedule for May. Reductions were also noted by Air India Express, Oman Air and Middle East Airlines, while Belarusian carrier Belavia now shows as not operating any flights to Dubai this month, having last week programmed a daily rotation from Minsk. More positively, the filings also show that Flynas will start operating daily services to Dubai from Jeddah and Riyadh, while Indian carrier Spicejet has added twice daily services there from Mumbai. Qatar Airways, meanwhile, is increasing Doha-Dubai flights from daily to twice-daily, but still lower than the 35 weekly flights it operated during May 2025. In Abu Dhabi, home carrier Etihad Airways has withdrawn 51 weekly flights between the two schedule filings, with Royal Jordanian, MEA and Syrianair also cutting back on flights to the UAE capital.