The UK airline and tourism sector is pressing the government to rapidly review its travel policy, as its seeks to rescue what it can of the peak summer flying season. It comes as part of a 'speak up for travel' day of action, with thousands of people expected to protest and take part in other events across the country in a bid to encourage the government to relax its current Covid-19 travel rules. The industry is asking the government to expand it's green list of safe travel countries, remove restrictions on vaccinated passengers, and provide greater financial support to the sector – including expanding its furlough scheme until April 2022.
Tim Alderslade, chief executive of Airlines UK says: "It is now or never for the government to reopen travel and save what is remaining of the summer season, not just for families desperate to get away but the tens of thousands of jobs which rely upon this once thriving sector." "Airlines are at the absolute limit of what they can borrow and without a genuine reopening this summer they will require government support to survive. The best way to save UK aviation is to enable a return to the skies – safely – by taking advantage of our vaccine dividend and allowing fully vaccinated passengers to travel without restrictions from amber and green countries. This is now happening across much of Europe and the UK is in grave danger of needlessly falling behind", he continues. The government has indicated in recent days that it is open to the idea of allowing double vaccinated travellers to enter the country without quarantine, with Heath Secretary Matt Hancock telling Sky News on 22 June that ministers were considering such plans. "This hasn't been clinically advised yet - we're working on it," he said. Asked when such a system might be put in place, he responded that: "We'll get there when it's safe to do so." Changes to the UK's green list system are also due to be announced as soon as 24 June, with The Times newspaper suggesting that Spain's Balearic islands may be added to the safe travel list, which would represent a significant step forward for the airline industry. It adds that "a handful" of further destinations are under consideration.

Vietnam has further tightened requirements on aircraft parked for extended periods, as numbers continue to increase amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) issued a directive on 21 June requiring aircraft operators to submit a detailed report of each aircraft’s maintenance activities while in storage, before it is returned to service. For aircraft returning after downtime of a month or less, operators must submit this information within 48h before it takes flight, and within 72h for aircraft grounded over a month. In January, CAAV issued directives requiring that airlines rotate between in-service and stored aircraft every month, to address safety risks associated with extended storage. Airlines are also not allowed to leave aircraft in storage for longer than one month. Operators would need to seek prior approval from CAAV to ground aircraft for repair and maintenance beyond a month.

The US Federal Aviation Administration will require additional inspections of the automated flight controls for certain Boeing 737 Max jets to tighten oversight of the aircraft features that contributed to two fatal crashes prior to their safety upgrades in November 2020. The FAA airworthiness directive scheduled for publication on 23 June will codify recommendations released in December by Boeing calling for checks of the flight controls, stabilizer trim and the primary and secondary aisle stand stabiliser on Max jets with more than 6,000 flight hours. The agency estimates that 72 Max jets registered in the USA and a total of 389 Max jets worldwide will be the first to require three repetitive inspections during existing maintenance schedules. If the additional inspections take 90 hours, then the FAA estimates that compliance with this order will be $7,650 per jet. The FAA in a separate notice highlights "the importance of these inspections" for government regulators and Max operators outside the USA. Failure of the flight controls or the stabiliser features on Max jets "combined with unusual flight maneuvers or with another flight control system failure, could result in reduced controllability of the airplane," the FAA states. Boeing states that it "fully supports the FAA mandate". The flight control software designed for Max aircraft called the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) was intended to make the aircraft fly and respond similarly to earlier-generation 737NG aircraft. Investigations of two fatal crashes of Max jets during which 346 people died determined that a contributing factor was pilot response to MCAS software. The FAA in November allowed Max jets to return to service following safety upgrades made during the 20-month grounding. Boeing says 170 of 195 global aviation regulators have since reopened their airspace to Max jets. The US Department of Transportation's top inspector, however, began a new investigation in April to scrutinise how the FAA both grounded and recertificated Max jets.