US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said on Monday she is pressing for the easing of coronavirus restrictions that bar much of the world from traveling to the United States but that US health officials remain concerned about more outbreaks. Dozen of US business groups, lawmakers and officials from foreign governments are urging President Joe Biden’s administration to relax tough restrictions put in place under former President Donald Trump. “We’re working it,” Raimondo said. “I’m pushing really hard.” She said she met with US Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra on Friday but had no information on when a decision could be made. “The CDC is nervous, and it’s hard to know if people are vaccinated,” she said. “There’s no vaccine passport that’s reliable, and that’s kind of a big hurdle.” The White House says it is continuing discussions with the European Union, Britain, Canada and Mexico on how to eventually lift restrictions, but U.S. officials say they still have no timetable and travel industry officials think the restrictions may not be lifted until August or later. The White House has repeatedly ruled out a national vaccine passport.<br/>
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The FAA on Monday said Boeing will fix another manufacturing defect that was discovered on some of its 787 Dreamliner planes that haven’t yet been delivered to customers. Boeing halted deliveries of the wide-body planes in May for the second time in a year as the FAA reviewed the manufacturer’s method for evaluating the aircraft. Boeing first disclosed incorrect spacing in some parts of certain 787 aircraft, including the fuselage, last year, halting deliveries for five months. The FAA said the latest issue was detected “near the nose” of certain 787 Dreamliners that Boeing has manufactured but not delivered. “This issue was discovered as part of the ongoing system-wide inspection of Boeing’s 787 shimming processes required by the FAA,” the agency said. “Although the issue poses no immediate threat to flight safety, Boeing has committed to fix these airplanes before resuming deliveries,” the FAA said.<br/>
Air passengers departing London’s Heathrow Airport had to endure long queues on Monday after a large number of security staff were told to self-isolate by the health service’s COVID-19 test and trace system. The airport, which is gearing up for a surge in customers as travel restrictions end, said it had to bring in extra staff to clear the queues. “Earlier today we experienced some passenger congestion in Terminal 5 departures, due to colleagues being instructed to self-isolate by NHS Test and Trace,” said a Heathrow spokesperson. “We have activated additional team members to assist passengers with their journeys and the operation has now returned to normal. We apologise to our passengers for any inconvenience caused.”<br/>
Britain’s busiest airport handled just one-10th of pre-pandemic passengers in the first half of 2021. Heathrow’s latest figures showed only 3.8m travellers passing through what used to be Europe’s busiest airport between January and June 2021, compared with 39 million during the same spell in 2019. Numbers are expected to increase from next week, with British travellers who have been fully vaccinated by the NHS allowed to return from “amber list” countries without quarantine. But no such concession applies to passengers who have received their jabs abroad. The CE of Heathrow, John Holland-Kaye said: “While it’s fantastic news that some double-vaccinated passengers will no longer need to quarantine from amber countries, ministers need to extend this policy to US and EU nationals if they want to kickstart the economic recovery. These changes will be critical for exporters who are losing out to EU rivals and families who have been separated from loved ones.”<br/>
Vietnam has restricted the number of seats on flights between Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi — a major domestic route — amid the resurgence of coronavirus infections in the country. The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) in an 8 July notice says that the country’s carriers were only allowed a total of around 1,700 seats per day, per way, on the route. Vietnam Airlines will be allowed to sell a maximum of 700 seats daily, while Bamboo Airways, Pacific Airlines, as well as VietJet will be allocated between 200 and 400 seats for sale a day. The move would mean significant capacity cuts for Vietnamese carriers on a traditionally popular domestic route. Cirium schedules data shows that Vietnam Airlines offers around 25,000 seats one-way on the route for the week of 12 July, averaging out to over 3,500 seats a day. VietJet offers over 15,000 seats the same week, averaging to over 2,200 seats daily. <br/>
US aircraft lessor BBAM Limited Partnership has ordered another 12 Boeing 737-800 converted freighters, throwing further momentum behind the conversion programme at a time of heightened air cargo demand. Including orders and commitments, BBAM now holds agreements to acquire 31 737-800 Boeing Converted Freighters (BCFs), pushing Boeing’s total backlog of the type (including orders and commitments) to more than 200, Boeing says on 14 July. With the agreement, San Francisco-based BBAM will be the first customer to have a 737-800BCF converted at Costa Rican MRO shop Cooperativa Autogestionaria de Servicios Aeroindustriales (Coopesa). In May, Boeing said Coopesa would be the newest of its 737 conversions shops, adding to three Chinese sites: GAMECO in Guangzhou, Boeing Shanghai Aviation Services, and Taikoo (Shandong) Aircraft Engineering Company (STAECO) in Jinan.<br/>