And on it goes. Some airlines shed staff, schedules and slots even as other carriers resume flights. Lockdown restrictions ease as does pollution – both in the air and in the water. The only thing standard about the ‘new normal’ is that there is no single standard.

Emirates is the latest Mideast airline to shed staff. The Dubai based carrier says it has fired an undisclosed number of employees as the coronavirus pandemic has halted global aviation. The airline declined to offer figures on how many staff it fired after releasing its statement acknowledging the firings on Sunday. The carrier said it would treat fired staff “with fairness and respect,” without elaborating.

Emirates had been the sole holdout among the Gulf’s two other major East-West carriers on retaining staff. Previously, Abu Dhabi-based Etihad and Doha-based Qatar Airways similarly fired staff as countries shut down their airspace as the virus spread.

Lufthansa agreed Saturday to a compromise worked out between the government and the European Union, overcoming a major hurdle toward final approval of a €9 ($13.6) billion bailout from Berlin.

Lufthansa said in a statement it had agreed to the compromise worked out between Germany and the EU in which the airline will have to give up several prized landing slots at Munich and Frankfurt airports.

The German government announced the aid package on Monday to help Lufthansa, but the EU imposed conditions, saying that bailouts must include measures that would maintain a level playing field for other companies.

Specifics on the EU’s demands weren’t announced, but under the agreement, the airline must remove up to four aircraft from the two airports, equivalent to three daily take-off and three landing rights per aircraft, to allow competitors to take the slots.

The slots will be re-allocated through a bid process. Discount airlines Ryanair and easyJet are both thought to be interested. Lufthansa’s supervisory board now needs to approve the full rescue package, including the conditions, and the German government needs to finalize its plans with the European Commission.

An Air India flight heading for Moscow was abruptly ordered to return after a problem with a Covid-19 test. The plane was heading to Russia empty to bring Indians back home to Delhi – the reason? The pilot’s negative test result turned out to be positive after a ‘lapse.’

“When the A320 plane, which did not have any passengers as it was heading to Moscow to bring back stranded Indians, had reached Uzbekistan’s airspace, our on ground team realised that one of the pilots had tested Covid-positive,” an Air India official was quoted as saying. “The flight was immediately asked to return.”

All crew members were placed in quarantine after touching down at Delhi. It is not the first time there have been issues with test results at Air India. Last month five pilots initially tested positive but following a second round of tests proved all were in fact negative. An official blamed ‘faulty testing kits.’

Turkish airlines resumed limited domestic flights, restaurants welcomed sit-in customers and beaches and museums reopened as Turkey’s broadest easing of coronavirus restrictions came into effect.

A Turkish Airlines flight departed from Ankara airport for Istanbul on Monday as Turkey lifted a travel ban between 15 of its worst-affected provinces. The air routes between Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Antalya and Trabzon are the first start, with others scheduled to follow gradually.

Britain has begun cautiously easing lockdown restrictions despite warnings from some health officials that the risk of spreading COVID-19 was still too great.

Some schools are reopening and some social restrictions have been relaxed, allowing people to have limited contact with family and friends as long as it is done outdoors and with social distancing. Restrictions on some of society’s most vulnerable have also been eased as the government moves to restore some normalcy in daily life and to revive the economy.

Business Secretary Alok Sharma told the BBC that the government is taking action in phases to ease restrictions in place since March 23. He says “this is not a dash.” The Association of Directors of Public Health has warned that experts are worried that the government is moving too fast.

Pope Francis greeted people in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday, as he resumed his practice of speaking to the crowds there for the first time since a coronavirus lockdown began in Italy and at the Vatican in early March.

However, instead of the tens of thousands of people who might have turned out on a similarly brilliantly sunny day like in pre-pandemic times, just a few hundred came to the square on Sunday, standing well apart from others or in small family groups. Until June 3, people aren’t allowed to travel between regions in Italy or arrive from abroad for tourism.

Pollution from human and agriculture waste spilling into the seas off Rome has decreased 30% during Italy’s coronavirus lockdown, preliminary results from a nationwide survey of seawater quality indicate.

Authorities stressed it was too soon to give the lockdown sole credit for the change, saying that shifting sea currents and limited rainfall in April and May also could have been responsible for reduced runoff of livestock and fertilizer waste.

But Marco Lupo, director general of the Lazio region’s environmental agency, hypothesized that the evaporation of tourism starting in March could have reduced the amount of sewage produced by the 30 million tourists who normally visit Rome each year. In addition, the lockdown meant Italians couldn’t flock to their seaside vacation homes as they normally would in spring, a phenomenon that typically overwhelms local water treatment plants and results in increased pollutants spewing into the seas, Lupo said.

Scientists around the world have documented some remarkable ecological changes as a result of travel ceasing, industrial production in many countries grinding to a halt and people staying home. Air pollution is down in some of the world’s smoggiest cities, while wildlife such as coyotes and boars have been seen in urban areas.

Off Italy’s coasts, which are popular and occasionally polluted, there are visible effects of the lockdown. With the usually busy Gulf of Naples cleared of pleasure boats, cargo and cruise ships, dolphins usually only seen far out in the Mediterranean flock close to shore. Jellyfish have been spotted in the empty canals of Venice.

Greece on Monday lifted lockdown measures for hotels, open-air cinemas, golf courses, and public swimming pools as the country ramped up preparations for the tourism season starting in two weeks.

Primary school children also returned to classes in the country where strict public safety measures were believed to have kept the COVID-19 infection rate low, with the death toll at 175, according to Health Ministry figures announced Sunday.

International flights with relaxed screening procedures will resume to Athens and Greece’s second-largest city Thessaloniki starting June 15 and expanding to the rest of the country on July 1.

Screening for arriving passengers will be based on an assessment by a European Union flight safety authority, with arrivals from low-infection countries being subjected only to random testing.

Hotels with a 12-month operating license were allowed to reopen Monday but many chose to remain closed until closer to the start of the tourism season, citing low bookings. Also allowed to restart Monday are campsites, wedding reception services, tattoo parlours, and dating agencies.

Traffic congestion returned to Istanbul, Turkey’s most populous city, while intercity roads filled with people heading for hometowns or to holiday resorts.

Meanwhile, restaurants and cafes opened their doors to a limited number of customers after some two months of take-away services only.

Businesses will be required to ensure social distancing is maintained as well as strict hygiene conditions.

Bars, nightclubs and hookah bars however, will remain closed. A stay-at-home order for people aged 65 and older and minors also remains in place.

The easing of restrictions follows a slowdown in confirmed COVID-19 infections and deaths in the country.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy says travellers to Alaska will have to be tested for COVID-19 before boarding a plane to the state, or submit to a 14-day quarantine upon arrival. Out-of-state travellers will need to show proof of testing within 72 hours of boarding and fill out paperwork. If either test results or paperwork are lost, travellers will be subjected to another test at the airport or quarantine for two weeks.

Dunleavy also extended the state’s 14-day quarantine rule until the new policy begins Friday. Further policy changes are expected to be clarified Monday.