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The airline has said that it aims to resume flights in July or August, but the restart date will depend on how the COVID-19 pandemic progresses and whether the airline can resolve a pilot dispute; state-owned South African Airways (SAA), which was put into administration in December 2019, has not flown commercially since September, when its administrators further postponed all operations pending funding for a restructuring.

United Arab Emirates (UAE) airlines Etihad Airways and flydubai have announced the cancellation of flights to Israel's Tel Aviv, joining others making similar decisions due to escalating hostilities in the region; Abu Dhabi's Etihad has suspended all passenger and cargo services to Tel Aviv from 16 May, while flydubai has also cancelled flights from Dubai on 16 May, although other services are currently scheduled for the following week.

The Abu Dhabi-based low-cost airline has announced that it will open a new base in Rome, offering 32 new flight services to 19 countries; Wizz Air have said this is the biggest number of routes ever announced at one time, and four Airbus A321neo aircraft will be based at Rome Fiumicino airport in July to facilitate. The new services, which include two UK routes from Rome to London Luton and Liverpool John Lennon, will complement the 25 routes already operating from Rome Fiumicino and Rome Ciampino airports.

The airline has said that it will delay its planned resumption of international flights further to the end of 2021, in response to a newly revised COVID-19 vaccine rollout timeline from the Australian government. Qantas now expects to resume international service in late December, after previously targeting late October. The Australian government now plans the larger re-opening of the country's borders in mid-2022.

The airline has announced that it will launch a trial with medical tech company Canary Global to assess if its Pelican Ultra Rapid COVID-19 test can play a role in further re-opening international travel; it is hoped the test can display a result within 25 seconds, and British Airways will first be inviting flight and cabin crew to take the Pelican test and will compare the performance of the result against tests that they are already using. Subject to successful evaluation, the airline hopes to be able to offer the test technology on applicable routes where testing must meet set specificity and sensitivity standards.

The airline has added new flight routes from the UK to holiday destinations for June and July onwards, following the announcement that British citizens will be able to resume limited international travel from 17 May. The 26 additional weekly frequencies will include destinations across Greece, the Canary Islands and Turkey to popular holiday hot spots including Corfu, Kos, Paphos, Rhodes, Lanzarote, Tenerife and Bodrum.

The airline has announced that it will make Belize the fourth international destination outside of the U.S. that it flies to, joining Canada, Mexico and Costa Rica. Alaska Airlines plans to put tickets on sale in early June for Belize City; although specific route information has not been provided, it is anticipated that the service will be offered from more than one of its West Coast hubs of Seattle, Portland, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

The airline has said that it well be trialling new queueing technology at London Heathrow Airport from partner Qmatic, which aims to enable passengers to virtually queue at check-in by pre-booking their slot time in advance of arriving at the airport. The optional technology will be trialled for three months on selected flights departing the airport's Terminal 5; passengers will be sent an email before travel inviting them to book their personal check in time.

A number of U.S. airlines including United Airlines, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines have canceled flights between the U.S. and Israel's capital of Tel Aviv, according to data from online flight trackers; the cancellations have been made in response to escalating conflict in the region. Passengers should check their flight status carefully prior to travelling to the airport.

The airline has said that it plans to launch a four times per week service from Entebbe, Uganda to South Africa's Johannesburg from 31 May.

The middle-eastern airline has said that from 12 May, passengers flying from its Abu Dhabi hub will be able to validate their COVID-19 travel documents before arriving at the airport; to use the service, passengers can sign-up by visiting 'Manage my Booking' online and will receive further information on how to submit their documents. Once the submission has been checked, they will then receive a ‘success’ email if their documents meet government requirements.

The airline has resumed flights to Switzerland's largest city from London City Airport as of 12 May; Swiss will initially operate two rotations per week, with the schedule planned to increase in line with anticipated surge for demand over the summer months. The airline also hopes to restore its flight route from London City Airport to Geneva in August.

The airline has announced that it will debut a new service from Istanbul to Newark Liberty International Airport, serving the New York metropolitan area, from 21 May; the airport will be the 10th U.S. gateway for Turkish Airlines joining Atlanta, Boston, Washington Dulles, Houston Bush, LAX, JFK, Miami, San Francisco and Chicago O'Hare.

The airline has started twice-weekly non-stop flights between Austin, Texas and Honolulu; the service between the two state capital cities is scheduled to expand to three times per week from 28 May to 3 August to meet expected higher summer volume. The flights are operated with 278-seat Airbus A330 aircraft featuring 18 first-class, lie-flat leather seats, 68 premium economy seats and 192 main cabin seats.

The U.S. airline has announced that from 2 July it will offer flights from New York JFK to Dubrovnik for the first time; the service will depart four times weekly. The decision was made as a result of Croatia's decision to open to U.S. passengers who can provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination, proof of recovery from the virus or a negative COVID-19 test result.

The airline's resumption of four weekly U.S. flights to Atlanta from 31 May marks the full return of the Qatar Airways' pre-pandemic U.S. network. The carrier now offers 12 destinations within the country, which is two more than it operated prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. The airline will also be increasing frequencies to Boston, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Seattle offering more flexible travel options for its passengers, with more than 85 weekly flights across the U.S.

The Turkish low-cost airline has announced the launch of a new international flight route from the UK's London Stansted Airport to Batumi in Georgia; the service will begin from 7 May and fly via Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen Airport. On the same date Pegasus will also be launching a new domestic route, with flights three times per week from Istanbul to Iğdır.

The low-cost airline has said that it will introduce more flexible policies ahead of the 2021 summer travel season, in an effort to boost passenger confidence; passengers will be able to change their flights without a fee at any time up to two hours prior to departure. If a mandatory hotel quarantine impacts a destination, passengers can also now request a refund for their flight within four weeks prior to departure if the restriction is still in place, even if flights are still operating.

The low-cost airline has made an early release of the schedules for over 1,800 flights per week on 160 routes during summer 2022. The schedule includes destinations such as Faro, Fuerteventura, Ibiza, Lanzarote, Marseille and Malta; cities such as Budapest, Copenhagen, Lisbon are Rome included.

The Icelandic flag-carrier has announced that it is to offer 'Covid Plus' medical insurance to passengers, which it says will enable instant payouts to affected passengers and give greater peace of mind for current or future travel bookings.