Middle Eastern carrier FlyDubai will return its Boeing 737 Max aircraft to service from 8 April, starting with flights to Pakistan's Sialkot International airport. "This follows the airline’s compliance with all of the requirements outlined in the Safety Decision issued by its regulator, the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), to ensure the safe return of the aircraft to service," the budget airline says. The Dubai-based carrier has a fleet of 14 Boeing 737 Max aircraft, and four of its Max 8's and one of its Max 9's have received regulatory approval to return to the skies. It says the remaining nine Max aircraft will return to passenger service over the coming months. Flydubai adds that it has met and exceeded requirements set out by the USA's Federal Aviation Administration, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency and UAE's General Civil Aviation Authority, and these include installing software enhancements, completing a wire separation modification, conducting pilot training and performing thorough aircraft reactivation activities.

Willie Walsh has begun his tenure as director general at IATA by promising to be a "forceful voice" for the airline industry around the world. "I am passionate about our industry and about the critical work that IATA does on behalf of its members, never more so than during the Covid-19 crisis," states Walsh. He highlights the organisation's position "at the forefront of efforts to restart global connectivity", including through the developing the IATA Travel Pass, but also through many of the less visible processes that airlines rely upon, such as its financial settlement systems, Timatic, "and other vital services to support their day-to-day operations". Walsh adds: "Together, the IATA team is absolutely focused on restoring the freedom of movement that airlines provide to billions of people around the world. That means your freedom to visit friends and family, to meet critical business partners, to secure and retain vital contracts, and to explore our wonderful planet." He notes that the rollout of vaccines globally has raised the profile or the air cargo industry, while carriers are increasingly focusing on the need to reduce emissions. "My goal is to ensure that IATA is a forceful voice supporting the success of global air transport. We will work with supporters and critics alike to deliver on our commitments to an environmentally sustainable airline industry. It's my job to make sure that governments, which rely on the economic and social benefits our industry generates, also understand the policies we need to deliver those benefits," he adds. Walsh joins IATA after a 40-year career in the airline industry, most recently as the chief executive of IAG until September 2020, having served in the position since its inception in 2011. He served on the IATA board of governors for almost 13 years between 2005 to 2018, including serving as chair in 2016-17. He will work from the association's executive office in Geneva.

American Airlines plans to introduce quarantine-free flights from New York’s John F Kennedy International airport to Milan and Rome in Italy. The carrier says the move will allow travellers to skip Italy's post-travel quarantine requirements and maximise their time while in that nation. Passengers will have to show negative Covid-19 tests results before boarding the flight in New York and upon arriving in Milan or Rome. The airline will restart daily flights to Milan on 4 April and thrice-weekly service to Rome on 8 May after having suspended those routes for a year. Both flights will operate on Boeing 777-200 aircraft. The Dallas-Fort Worth-based carrier says customers near its hub in Charlotte, North Carolina, and in other markets, will soon be able to access GoHealth Urgent Care’s rapid PCR test capabilities, which will give customers PCR test results in approximately 30 minutes instead of waiting a days for the sample to be processed at a lab. American’s customers now have access to in-person testing at more than 150 local urgent care facilities or hospitals through GoHealth Urgent Care.