A French court has convicted 14 current and former Air France workers of taking part in violence during a union protest last year at the airline's headquarters that saw two company executives flee over a fence with their shirts ripped off. The images of the shirtless managers spread around the world and came as an extreme example of the often-tense labor relations in France. The judges outside Paris on Wednesday gave three men suspended terms of between three and four months for aggravated assault. Eleven workers were given an E500 fine for property damage. One person was acquitted of all charges. Most of the 15 defendants are union members. Four were fired after the incident while the others retained theirs jobs in the company. The 14 convicted and the prosecutor's office now have 10 days to appeal the verdict. After the ruling was read in a crowded court room, the lawyer for 11 defendants, Lilia Mhissen, said the verdict was "outrageous" and that she will advise her clients to file an appeal. The violence erupted in October 2015 as executives were announcing nearly 3,000 job cuts during a union meeting at the airline's headquarters next to Charles de Gaulle Airport outside Paris. During a scuffle outside the building, two managers and several security guards were manhandled. Amid catcalls and boos, with protesters chanting "naked, naked," and "resignation," the airline's human resources director at the time, Xavier Broseta, was seen bare-chested, with a tie still around his neck but just a piece of sleeve around his wrist. Meanwhile, the head of long-haul operations, Pierre Plissonnier, ended up with his shirt and suit jacket shredded. The two managers, under protection of security guards, managed to escape by climbing a fence. Plissonnier said the humiliating images were seen "1.4b times around the world." At the trial two months ago, prosecutor Philippe Bourion said "the humiliation and nudity of executives never created jobs" and he compared the crowd of protesters to a "horde of hooligans" who entered a "collective trance".<br/>
sky
Russia's flagship carrier Aeroflot said Wednesday its net profit had grown nearly seven-fold in the third quarter despite an economic crisis that has battered the Russian aviation industry. The majority state-controlled company said it had earned a net profit of 41.2b rubles (US$630m) between July and September. Total revenue rose 18% to 157.5b rubles. Russia's aviation industry has struggled in the face of the country's economic crisis caused by falling oil prices and Western sanctions imposed over Moscow's actions in Ukraine, hitting travellers' wallets. Aeroflot is emerging strong from the economic crisis that is now showing signs of stabilisation, capitalising on the bankrupcy of its main competitor Transaero last year. Aeroflot also saw its passenger numbers climb by 9.2% to 32.8m in the first nine months of 2016, compared to the same period last year. Aeroflot's deputy CE for finance, said Shamil Kurmashov that the results showed a "significant improvement" year-on-year. He said the latest results could be explained by a "growth of the business, net positive FX effects and tight control of operating costs."<br/>
Garuda Indonesia has opened a new route to connect Surabaya in East Java to Medina in Saudi Arabia in a bid to expand its flight network in the Middle East and tap into the potential umroh (minor haj) market. Introduced on Tuesday at Surabaya's Juanda International Airport, the all economy class flight will be available once a week on Tuesday using Airbus A330-300 that can accommodate 360 passengers. “Hopefully we can provide ease and comfort to East Javanese residents and others [who are traveling on a pilgrimage] since this direct flight will help save time and money," said Garuda Indonesia Cargo Director Sigit Muhartono. The carrier currently operates two direct international routes from Surabaya, to Singapore and Jeddah. Following the opening of the Surabaya-Medina route, Garuda Indonesia now operates a total of 34 flights to the Middle East from major cities in Indonesia. <br/>