Emirates is temporarily boosting its services to London Gatwick as the Middle Eastern carrier rejigs its schedules to the UK following Heathrow's sudden decision to cap passenger flows. Dubai-based Emirates will operate a third daily service to Gatwick from 27 July to 3 August, using Boeing 777s. This reflects strong demand to and from London, says the airline, and will also "provide additional seats to accommodate Emirates passengers affected by capacity adjustments on flights from London Heathrow". The airline has engaged in a spat with Heathrow after the airport instructed it on 12 July to cancel a proportion of its services to comply with a daily 100,000-passenger limit. This led Emirates to complain that in addition to being given just 36h to comply, it was told which specific services to cancel and warned of legal action in the event of non-compliance. The passenger limit also appeared to be "plucked from thin air", it complained. Furthermore, Emirates Airline president Tim Clark said at the Farnborough air show on 18 July that Heathrow had suggested abandoning passengers at check-in in order to comply with the limit. "We said we can't do this, we won't do this," he said. "I had thousands of people who would have been left at Heathrow with absolutely nowhere to go." Following negotiations with Heathrow, Emirates agreed to reduce its services from six daily A380 services to five from a later date. Clark said that they were seeking to transfer the remaining flight to Gatwick. The airline has also capped load factors for further-out flights that are not yet fully booked, while a high level of no-shows – 200 out 3,000 booked on 17 July, for example – has also reduced passenger numbers. Emirates will continue to operate its six daily flights to and from London Heathrow during the period, and plans to restart from 1 August five weekly flights to London Stansted, moving to daily from September onwards.

Qatar Airways has finalised an order for 25 Boeing 737 Max 10s, filling a gap left by Airbus's cancellation of the Middle Eastern carrier's A321neo order. The deal for the Max's largest variant follows a memorandum of understanding signed by the US airframer and Qatar's flag carrier in January in Washington DC. "We are honoured that Qatar Airways has decided to add Boeing's single-aisle family to its fleet, deepening our relationship with this world-class airline," states Boeing Commercial Airplanes chief executive Stan Deal. "The 737-10 is ideally suited for Qatar Airways' regional network and will provide the carrier with the most capable, most fuel-efficient airplane in its class." Airbus's decision in January to terminate a Qatar Airways order for 50 A321neos came amid a dispute over premature surface degradation on some A350s. In April, the UK's High Court dismissed the airline's request that Airbus be compelled to continue delivery of the aircraft, enabling the European airframer to offer them to other customers. The Max 10 has seating capacity for 230 passengers and a range of 3,300 miles.

Ryanair has disclosed agreements on "post-Covid pay restoration" with unions representing pilots in France and Spain.
The deals with France's SNPL and Spain's SEPLA will go some way toward allaying fears of disruption in two of Ryanair's key markets, as many European airlines face strike action this summer. Unions representing some Ryanair cabin crew in Spain have said they will strike across 12 days this summer, Euronews has reported, although previous action by these organisations appear to have had minimal impact. Meanwhile, pilots in France and Belgium have announced strike dates for 23 and 24 July, according to Reuters. "While the recovery from the impact of the pandemic is still ongoing and our industry faces significant challenges, this long-term agreement delivers stability, accelerated pay restoration, future pay increases and other benefit improvements for pilots," states Ryanair’s people director Darrell Hughes. "While all of our pilots across our European network are covered by 2020 Emergency Agreements, we continue to work with our pilots and their unions on new deals, similar to those concluded with SEPLA and SNPL, and have now successfully renegotiated accelerated pay restoration and improved long-term agreements with over 85% of our pilots." Ryanair plans to reach 115% of its pre-Covid capacity this year and is therefore seeking to seal renegotiated agreements as a firm foundation for growth. The new accelerated deals also provide for pay enhancements and other benefits beyond full restoration of pay.