Swiss will start introducing premium-economy seats on its Boeing 777 fleet during the fourth quarter in an effort to diversify its product offering amid an increased focus on leisure traffic in the aftermath of the pandemic. The Lufthansa subsidiary says it will install 24 premium-economy seats on each of its 777-300ERs in a layout which also includes eight first, 62 business and 226 economy seats. Before the reconfiguration, Swiss's 777-300ERs were fitted with 270 economy, 62 business and eight first-class seats – 20 seats more than in the new layout featuring premium economy. "In introducing its new premium-economy class, Swiss is further strengthening its premium positioning in the growing leisure travel segment," the carrier says. Chief executive Dieter Vranckx states that Swiss is meeting "growing demand for more privacy, more comfort and more individuality". Swiss is the last Lufthansa-owned network carrier to introduce premium economy. The German mainline introduced the fare category in 2014 and Austrian Airlines followed suit in 2017. Brussels Airlines has had premium economy seats on its long-haul fleet for some time, its website indicates. Lufthansa's low-cost arm Eurowings, meanwhile, offers a premium fare that is more akin to business class, including lie-flat seats on long-haul flights. Like Lufthansa and Austrian, Swiss has opted for premium-economy seats supplied by German manufacturer Zim Flugsitz. Zurich-based Swiss says, however, that the fixed-backshell seat has been newly developed and represents "latest-generation" premium economy design. Chief commercial officer Tamur Goudarzi Pour states: "Our new premium economy class is tailormade for our previous economy class customers who are looking to enhance their air travel experience and enjoy the benefits associated with higher travel classes. In international comparison terms, our Swiss premium-economy class is very clearly positioned as a top travel product." In addition to the 777-300ER's, Swiss's long-haul fleet includes 14 Airbus A330-300's and five A340-300's. Ten A330's and one A340 are listed as being in storage. Earlier in June, Swiss said it will decommission either five A330's or five A340's as part of its recovery from the pandemic. Swiss says that it has not decided when premium-economy seats will be installed on the rest of its long-haul fleet.

Carriers operating to and from the UK are rapidly updating their flight schedules to account for the country's latest travel restrictions, adding services to the green-list destinations of Malta, Madeira and the Balearic Islands. Wizz says it will bolster its operations to Malta, Palma and the Portuguese island of Madeira from 30 June, as it looks to capitalise on pent-up demand from leisure travellers. "We know the demand is there, and we are ready and prepared to quickly ramp up our operations for the summer," states Wizz Air UK's managing director Owain Jones. Ryanair on 25 June said it planned to add 200,000 seats to Malta, Ibiza and Palma across July, August and September, and urged the government to "immediately add equally safe destinations such as Cyprus, the Canaries & the Greek Islands [to the green list], and also to immediately allow vaccinated UK and EU citizens to travel freely between the UK and the EU without restrictions". In a similar move, EasyJet has outlined its intention to add 50,000 seats to Malta and the Balearic Islands over the course of the summer, including two new routes from Bristol and London Luton to Malta. As a result, the carrier will operate around 1 million seats to green-list destinations over the summer. "And with two thirds of UK adults expected to be double-jabbed by 19 July, now is the time to let British citizens take advantage of the success of the vaccination programme, so we urge the government to move quickly to remove quarantine and testing for fully vaccinated people travelling from amber and green countries," states EasyJet chief executive Johan Lundgren. "This is overdue, and unless testing is also removed flying could become the preserve of the rich again." Leisure airline Jet2 has announced additional services to Malta and Madeira as part of its wider restart on 1 July, citing "enormous pent-up demand for our flights". However, all of the new additions on the UK's green list except Malta have been caveated as being 'green watchlist' destinations, meaning they are at risk of moving from green to amber at short notice. Previous green-listed destination Israel has also now been placed on the green watchlist. UK travellers are also facing heightened travel restrictions upon arrival in many European countries. Spain says it plans to require proof of vaccination or a negative coronavirus test for arrivals from the UK to the Balearic islands, reports the Financial Times, while Malta will from 30 June ban entry to all UK passengers over the age of 12 unless they are double vaccinated. And Portugal – which was recently removed from the UK's green list – has announced that unvaccinated arrivals from the UK must now quarantine for 14 days upon their arrival in the country, although the rules will not apply in Madeira. Similar restrictions already apply in France, Germany and Italy. It has been reported by The Times that Germany is seeking to ban travellers from the UK entering the EU regardless of their vaccination status. This is because of the risk of spreading the Delta variant, which accounts for the vast majority of Covid-19 cases in the UK and appears to be much easier to transmit. German chancellor Angela Merkel wants to designate the UK as a “country of concern”, says The Times, although this is likely to be resisted by Greece, Spain, Cyprus, Malta and Portugal. This comes as the recovery in airline capacity continues to build in Europe: flight hours and number of flights are surpassing the levels of summer 2020. European departing services hit seven-day averages of around 13,300 flights and 26,500 hours on 27 June, data shows the highest levels since March 2020. However, the same data for the UK shows capacity well below the levels seen last summer, as travel is impacted by the country's stringent restrictions.

Qatar Airways will deploy Boeing 787-9s for passenger flights on several routes to Europe and Asia, starting with services to Milan on 25 June. The Oneworld carrier says the aircraft will feature new business class suites and be deployed on routes to Athens, Barcelona, Dammam, Karachi, Kuala Lumpur, Madrid and Milan. In November 2020, Doha-based Qatar Airways activated 787-9s for freight-carrying flights, which had previously been delivered and then placed in storage amid the pandemic. Data shows that Qatar Airline has seven 787-9's and another 23 on order. Its fleet also includes 30 787-8's. The airline has configured its 787-9's with 311 seats, including 30 business suites. Chief executive Akbar Al-Baker states that the new business accommodation provides a "uniquely private experience", which is "becoming increasingly valuable during this pandemic". Qatar Airways says while that its 37 787's and 53 Airbus A350's provide an "ideal mix for the most strategically important long-haul routes", the carrier's 10 A380's have been grounded because "it is not commercially or environmentally justifiable to operate such a large aircraft in the current market".

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