The debris found in South Africa and the Mauritian island of Rodrigues were confirmed to be "almost certainly" from MH370, according to Malaysian transport minister Liow Tiong Lai on Thursday. The two pieces of debris - an engine cowling piece with a partial Rolls-Royce logo and an interior panel piece from an aircraft cabin - were examined by a team of international experts in Australia. The Malaysian ICAO Annex 13 Safety Investigation Team has concluded that both pieces of debris are consistent with panels found on a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 aircraft, the press release said. "As such, the team has confirmed that both pieces of debris from South Africa and Rodrigues Island are almost certainly from MH370," said Mr Liow. "This complements the results from the previous examination in March during which the team confirmed that the Mozambique debris were almost certainly from MH370." He added that the governments of Malaysia, Australia and China continue to be "wholly committed" to the search for MH370. To date, more than 105,000 square kilometres of the search area have been completed, he added. <br/>
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The current proposal to build a third runway at London Heathrow Airport is “indefensible” from a cost point of view and the head of British Airways’ parent company will fight it. International Airlines Group CEO Willie Walsh said he was worried about the current Heathrow proposal because there was now “desperation by the airport to get a third runway and they are willing to do anything to get it.” Walsh said that has led to a proposal that would cost GBP18b, but just 1% of that would go to building the runway. The rest of the money, he said, would go to all other things at the airport. “So the airport is incentivized to spend money while I am incentivized to save money,” Walsh said. “I will not support what would be the world’s most expensive runway. I will fight against it and I refuse to pay for it because the cost will be passed on to me and my customers.” Walsh added, “The proposal that’s on the table now is completely indefensible from a cost point of view.” Building a third runway at Heathrow was declared the best option for extra runway capacity in the crowded southeast of England after a two-year investigation by a government-backed commission.<br/>
The case against an American Airlines co-pilot accused of drunkenness at Detroit Metropolitan Airport has been delayed because the man is at a treatment centre. John Maguire is charged with operating under the influence of alcohol on March 26. The Wayne County prosecutor's office says a hearing scheduled for Wednesday has been adjourned until June 22 at the request of his lawyer. Defense attorney Frank Manley tells The Associated Press that Maguire is at a treatment center in California and they want to make sure any issues are handled properly. The 50-year-old Maguire, from Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, was removed from a Detroit-to-Philadelphia flight before takeoff at the airport in Romulus. Authorities say his blood-alcohol level was twice the legal limit.<br/>
LATAM Airlines announced net income of US$102.2m in the three months to end-March. It made a loss of $39.9m in the same period last year. Revenue fell to $2.327b from $2.791b a year ago. The airline has struggled to fulfill the hopes behind its merger, held back by tough economic conditions and weakening currencies in the region. It has reported a full-year loss for the last four years and has said that its future recovery will be pinned to that of its key Brazilian market, which is mired in a deep recession and a political crisis with the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff looming. "We continue seeing a very challenging scenario in Brazil," said head of investor relations Gisela Escobar at a presentation to reporters. "As well as all the volatility that the political process is generating, business demand is not improving." The company said that it was accelerating capacity cuts in the Brazilian domestic market, aiming to shrink capacity by 12% in 2016, from a prior forecast of 8 to 10%. It also announced further fleet restructuring. Last quarter it had said that it wanted to reduce three-year fleet purchase commitments by almost $3b.<br/>