Vietnam Airlines is poised to resume operating to Australia and to the capitals of Japan and Thailand. The Vietnamese flag carrier says it will serve Sydney and Melbourne from Ho Chi Minh City, twice and once weekly starting from 15 and 20 July, respectively, until 30 October. Japanese capital Tokyo will be served twice weekly from Hanoi as of 17 July, likewise until 30 October. Between 1 August and 30 October, the carrier will add a weekly flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Thai capital Bangkok, and during the same span a weekly Tokyo service will be operated from the same Vietnamese city. Boeing 787 and Airbus A350 aircraft will be deployed on these routes. Vietnam Airlines has also disclosed plans for limited operations to European destinations from Hanoi. Departures to Frankfurt in Germany are scheduled on 25 July, 28 July and 21 August, with return flights the next day in each case. There will be flights to London on 13 August and 2 September, with returns again programmed for the following day.

Flydubai has cancelled 65 Boeing 737 Max orders. The Middle Eastern low-cost carrier says it has reached an agreement with Boeing to reduce adjust orders placed in 2013 and 2017 to 172 aircraft. Flydubai took delivery of two Boeing 737 Max 8s last month and will take a further 11 by year-end. The airline says it continues to diversify its sources of funding and has concluded the financing requirements for all aircraft deliveries due this year. It currently operates a single-type fleet of 52 737s, comprising 36 737-800s, 13 Max 8s and three Max 9s.

The number of flights being operated in Europe has reached the highest level since mid-March, as a relaxation of travel restrictions allows passengers to return to the skies. A seven-day average of 16,182 departing flights took place across the continent on 12 July, up from 13,709 at the start of the month. At its lowest point this year in early February, the equivalent figure was around 5,000. Measuring activity by flight hours provides a similar snapshot. Departing services amounting to a seven-day average of 32,399 flight hours took place on 12 July, up from 28,018 on 1 July and 14,339 at the start of May – underlining a relatively rapid bounce back in services. Activity in the European Economic Area has been bolstered by the EU's digital travel pass, which allows vaccinated, tested or recovered passengers to move around the continent with relative ease. Meanwhile, flight activity has also bounced back strongly in Russia, led by domestic capacity, and despite a worsening Covid-19 situation in the country in recent weeks. Domestic flight activity has also recovered quickly in Turkey. However, restrictions on entering the UK mean that country is lagging its continental peers: passenger numbers are still below their summer 2020 peak. On 12 July a seven-day average of just 907 flights departed from the country, data shows. Although this represents a steady increase as the summer has progressed – just 315 flights departed on 1 May – the recovery in UK services was delayed by the removal of Portugal from the country's green list last month. Data additionally shows that the Airbus A320 is currently the most popular aircraft type for European operations, which continue to be dominated by short-haul services. The aircraft family accounted for 7,077 flights on 12 July, followed by the Boeing 737 with 5,047 services and Embraer E-Jets with 1,139.