Pilots at SAS will go on strike this week after extended talks with management failed to produce an agreement. The Scandinavian airline group estimates that it will have to cancel half of its flights as a result of the industrial action, which it warns will have "devastating" consequences and put its future at stake. More than 1,000 SAS pilots threatened strike action in June following a failure to agree a new collective labour agreement to replace a contract that expired at the end of March. Pilot representatives want to see crewmembers laid off amid the pandemic reinstated, and have expressed concerns that the group is seeking to hire pilots on reduced salaries through its new SAS Connect and SAS Link units. Negotiations were recently extended by three days to 2 July, but the two sides were unable to reach an agreement and SAS announced on 4 July that members of its pilot unions had been called out on strike. "A strike at this point is devastating for SAS and puts the company's future, together with the jobs of thousands of colleagues, at stake," warns SAS chief executive Anko van der Werff. "The decision to go on strike now demonstrates reckless behaviour from the pilots' unions and a shockingly low understanding of the critical situation that SAS is in." The group estimates that the strike will result in the cancellation of 50% of its flights, affecting about 30,000 passengers a day. Flights operated by SAS Link, SAS Connect and the group's external providers will not be affected. SAS says it wishes to continue mediation in the hope that an agreement can be reached to "end the strike as soon as possible".

The UK has reduced the amount of time required for staff to receive security clearance for aviation work to 10 days for anti-terrorist checks and five days for accreditation, as the industry races to fill vacancies this summer. This is down from an average of around 20 days for counter terrorism checks in March. Airlines had complained that delays in processing security checks were a roadblock to staffing up amid the recovery. Earlier this year employers were granted permission to begin training new staff on certain modules while their background checks were ongoing, further speeding up the onboarding process. "People have made huge sacrifices during the pandemic and deserve their flights to run on time, without complications, and without being cancelled last minute," states transport secretary Grant Shapps. "While this is a challenging time for the sector, it is not acceptable for the current disruption to continue as we head into the summer peak. The public deserves to know now whether or not their flight will run over the summer, and so I reiterate my call for the industry to commit to deliver the flights they have scheduled, or to cancel them well in advance so people can make other arrangements." To encourage smoother operations this summer, the government has ordered airlines to review their summer schedules to ensure they are deliverable and introduced an amnesty on use-it-or-lose-it airport slot rules.

London City airport has set out its plans for a significant expansion in passenger numbers from a maximum of 6.5 million per year currently to 9 million by 2031. Launching a 10-week consultation on its plans, the UK airport states its belief that it can achieve this growth without an increase in the overall number of flights taking off and arriving, and while maintaining the 8h night-time curfew currently in place. However, it is seeking permission to raise the maximum number of flights between 06:30 and 7:00 on six days of the week, from the current six to 12. The airport also wants restrictions on weekend services lifted, including the current ban on flights from 12:30 on Saturday. In a recognition of the potential pushback this may receive from local residents, London City pledges that only quiet aircraft, such as the Airbus A220 and Embraer E2 E-Jets, would be used during these times. Likewise, it stresses that there would be no need to extend its existing infrastructure or runway, beyond what has already been approved. Remodelling of the facilities' terminal buildings, passenger piers was approved in 2016 and began in 2017. It was paused in 2020 due to the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. "We plan to re-start works once passenger demand returns to a sufficient level," London City states. This year, as it recovers from the Covid-19 crisis, the airport expects to handle around 3 million passengers, rising to 5 million "potentially as soon as 2024". By the middle of the decade, it expects to surpass its current maximum passenger cap. British Airways currently operates the majority of services to and from London City. Results will be submitted to the London borough of Newham once the consultation has closed.