Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down over Ukraine by a Russian-made Buk missile fired from rebel-held territory, the international investigation has concluded. MH17, a Boeing 777 with 298 passengers and crew on board, was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was hit by the ground-to-air missile. Most of the passengers were Dutch. The MH17 Joint Investigation Team (JIT), led by the Netherlands, said the Buk missile launcher was taken across the border from Russia into a rebel-held area of Ukraine. Investigators said that after the attack, the launcher was returned to Russian Federation territory. Russia has not been accused of involvement in the incident. Although the JIT can’t lay charges, the investigation may lead to future prosecutions or civil cases. <br/>
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Air Berlin is to slash its operating fleet and devote 40 aircraft to operating services for Lufthansa Group, in a significant restructuring that will cost more than 10% of the jobs at the airline. The announcement comes after a long period of mounting losses for Air Berlin, which has struggled to bring down its costs to compete against Ryanair, EasyJet and Eurowings. The airline has required repeated bailouts from Etihad. The company lost E271m on E1.71b turnover in the first half this year. Air Berlin said that its “touristic” business — its charter operations — would be combined in a separate unit “with a view to evaluate strategic options”. Out of its total fleet of 144 aircraft, it plans to provide up to 40 Airbus A320 aircraft to Lufthansa, with Air Berlin operating the aircraft with its crews on behalf of 2 Lufthansa subsidiaries. <br/>
Qantas has warned of the danger of mobile phones being crushed in reclinable plane seats and catching fire after one ignited during a US flight, a safety report said Wednesday. The findings came just weeks after Qantas and Virgin Australia, as well as other international airlines, instructed passengers not to use or charge Samsung's Galaxy Note7 during flights after faulty lithium-ion batteries in the new smartphone caused some handsets to explode. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau report said a phone was crushed in a Qantas business class passenger's seat on a Los Angeles- New York flight June 21, and "immediately began hissing and emitting smoke". "Moments later, the (device) ignited... when the cabin crew members arrived at seat 3A, they observed an orange glow emanating from the seat," the report said. <br/>
British Airways and Qatar Airways have announced a joint business agreement that will allow the airlines to share codes and revenue. The carriers said passengers will benefit by providing better links between the UK, continental Europe, Asia, Middle East and Africa, and a greater choice of flights. IAG CE Willie Walsh said that the agreement will give customers access “to more destinations through Qatar Airways' extensive network. It will also allow us to provide easier journeys with better aligned schedules”. Qatar Airways CE Akbar Al Baker said the partnership provides “an enhanced operation for our passengers with increased daily flights between London and Doha, greater choice of flight schedules, wider range of fares and improved member benefits”. The agreement is effective from Oct 30, 2016. <br/>
American Airlines, nearly 3 years after merging with US Airways, faces a major information-technology challenge this weekend, when it transitions all pilots and planes to one “flight operating system.” For the first time since the combination, the shift will allow the airline to schedule all 15,000 pilots and 1,500 planes in its system, instead of keeping premerger planes and aviators separate. That means US Airways pilots will share cockpits with their counterparts from American, and the company will be able to mix and match aircraft in a way that better anticipates demand and can respond more efficiently to poor weather. Maya Leibman, American’s chief information officer, didn’t rule out “minimal delays” if the switch-over creates some glitches, but said she didn’t think passengers would see any impact. <br/>