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Japan Airlines said Wednesday it has been defrauded out of JPY384m (US$3.4m) after receiving emails earlier this year that called for the payments of lease fees and commissions into bank accounts in Hong Kong. JAL has reported the cases to Japanese police, while also considering reprimanding relevant officials for failing to sufficiently verify the emails. In September, the airline received an email purporting to be from a US financial services company that had been leasing aircraft to JAL. As requested by the email, JAL paid around JPY360m into a bank account in Hong Kong for a 3-month lease of an airplane, rather than a US bank account that had been used for previous payments. JAL also paid some JPY24m in commissions into a different Hong Kong account disguised as being from a US logistics company. <br/>

Qatar Airways said Wednesday it would like to add more flights to India in the future as the country is an economic superpower and an important destination for the airline. One day after the launch of its new flight between Doha and St Petersburg, Russia, Qatar Airways group CE Akbar Al Baker said Indians can take the flight to St Petersburg from Doha as most flights from India arrives at Qatar's capital about 2 hours prior to departure of this new flight. Asked about future expansion plans of Qatar Airways in India, he said that the airline would certainly like to expand its operation there, but did not give any details. "India is an economic super power today, so it is an important destination for us," he said. <br/>