An Australian law firm has submitted a compensation claim against Russia and president Vladimir Putin in the European Court of Human Rights on behalf of families of victims of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, shot down in 2014, media reported. The aircraft, which was en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was shot down by a Russian-made surface-to-air missile, the Dutch Safety Board concluded in its final report late last year. Australian media reported that 33 next of kin of victims named in an application by Sydney law firm LHD Lawyers, representing people from Australia, New Zealand and Malaysia. The application was made May 9 and names the Russian Federation and Putin as respondents and seeks US$10m in compensation per passenger, the report said. <br/>
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Malaysia Airlines has exercised the lease option for 2 additional new Airbus A350-900s with Air Lease Corp under a 12-year agreement. The transaction is pursuant to the option provided under an existing lease agreement for 4 A350-900s signed in Sept 2015. The A350 aircraft are from ALC’s order book with Airbus and will be delivered in 2018. MAB CE Christoph Mueller sees the two additional aircraft as a strategic transaction for the carrier. “The additional 2 Airbus A350-900s will complement the existing 4 that are on order to reach a critical fleet size, allowing standby aircraft for any scheduled maintenance and enabling future network expansion,” Mueller said. The airline has completed the retirement of its Boeing 777-200s and is scheduled to take the first A350-900 in Oct 2017. <br/>
Morgan Stanley has slashed its forecasts for Qantas’s 2016 profit result by 6% and its 2017 result by 19% on the back of falling prices for international airfares. Pointing to a spate of recent carrier downgrades on the back of reduced capacity, Morgan Stanley analyst Nick Markiewicz said deteriorating international yields would raise earnings risks at Qantas over the next 12 months. As Qantas does not report international yield on a quarterly basis, the Morgan Stanley analysts looked to international peers as a proxy and found Air NZ and SIA over Q1 of this year took a hit to their international yields which fell 5% and 7% respectively. “Negative yield growth does not appear to have found a floor, pointing to tough international conditions ahead,” Mickiewicz said. <br/>