The chief of IAG welcomed Britain's commitment to cap airline charges in its plans to build a new runway at Heathrow. In choosing Heathrow, the govt said that the British aviation regulator would work with the airport and the airlines to ensure the new runway plan is affordable and keeps landing charges per passenger that are paid by airlines close to current levels. That condition was welcomed by IAG CE Willie Walsh. "The govt's directive to cap customer charges at today's level is fundamental," Walsh said. "We will be vigilant in ensuring that Heathrow does not raise charges to benefit its shareholders to the detriment of the travelling public." British Airways is Heathrow's biggest airline, accounting for more than 50% of the available take-off and landing slots. <br/>
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A British Airways A380 aircraft on its way from San Francisco to London made an emergency landing in Vancouver late Monday after crew members became unwell, sending 25 to hospital. Flight BA286, carrying about 400 passengers, was surrounded by emergency vehicles shortly after it touched down at Vancouver International around 11:30 pm. Initial reports blamed the illnesses on smoke inhalation, but officials have yet to confirm this. "We are investigating the cause of the problem," a spokeswoman said. It appears all of those hospitalised were cabin crew. Health officials in Vancouver confirmed 25 people were taken to 3 area hospitals and released Tuesday morning. British Airways was making arrangements for about 400 passengers on the flight to continue their travel, according to the airline. <br/>
Various alternatives remain under consideration for pursuing a prosecution of those accused of bringing down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine 2 years ago. While a decision has not been made, Dutch security and justice minister Ard van der Steur has written to the lower house of the country’s parliament outlining 2 particular options. The assessment follows last year’s failure to secure UN approval for an international criminal tribunal after a veto by Russia’s representative on the UN Security Council. Van der Steur says one option is to focus on an international tribunal, in spite of the UN failure, while another is to consider a national prosecution in co-operation with one of the 5 states in the MH17 joint investigation team. The ministry says both options are “complex” and involve legal hurdles. <br/>
S7 Airlines has reported it carried 967,075 domestic passengers in September, up 30% year-over-year (YOY). Sibir and Globus Airlines, which fly under the S7 brand, carried 1.3m passengers in September, up 27% YOY. In September, S7 Airlines reportedly carried 379,664 international passengers, up 21.2%. Since the beginning of the year, S7 has carried more than 10m passengers. S7 Group commercial director Igor Veretennikov said that in September the number of international passengers grew despite the end of the main holiday season. He added the total number of passengers in first 9 months increased nearly one-third compared to the year-ago period. <br/>