The missile used to shoot down a Malaysia Airlines passenger jet over eastern Ukraine in 2014 belonged to a Russia-based military unit, an international team of investigators said Thursday after painstakingly studying video and photos of a military convoy. The criminal investigation team "has concluded that the Buk Telar with which Flight MH17 was shot down is from the 53rd anti-aircraft missile brigade from Kursk in the Russian Federation," said Wilbert Paulissen, head of the Netherlands' National Crime Squad, referring to the missile system used. It was the clearest link yet published by the investigators to the involvement of Russian military in the deadly surface-to-air missile strike on the Boeing 777, and it echoed findings published in 2016 by the Bellingcat investigative group. Russia has always denied involvement in the downing of Flight 17. On Thursday, Russia criticized the Joint Investigation Team, or JIT, for relying on claims by Bellingcat. "If the international investigative team is indeed interested in tracking down the real culprits of the MH17 catastrophe, its members would better rely on facts and witness testimony and not fakes produced by Bellingcat and Ukraine's Security Service," the Russian Defense Ministry said. The Russian Foreign Ministry also criticized the investigators for allegedly ignoring evidence provided by Russia, including radar surveillance of the airspace at the time of the flight. "In these circumstances, we have legitimate questions about the true underlying cause of the decision of the JIT to disclose the preliminary conclusion," the Foreign Ministry said.<br/>
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American Airlines has more than 2,000 applicants for its just-launched Cadet Academy pilot pipeline programme, and plans to accept 200 candidates this year. The programme, launched in April, gives aspiring pilots a slot to train at one of American’s three flight schools for up to 18 months. The next step would be the chance to join one of American’s regional subsidiaries: Envoy Air, Piedmont Airlines, or PSA Airlines. Crucially, the programme provides access to financing to pay for training. American’s regional affiliates have pipeline programs, but those focus primarily on connecting candidates in college aviation programs with jobs, American’s pilot recruitment director David Tatum said. Tatum said candidates in the regionals’ programmes have already solved the financing challenge and are focused on building flight time. The new academy’s goal is to develop more cadets for that pipeline, and help ensure American has a steady stream of pilots to help support growth and offset retirements.<br/>
Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways has made the biggest overhaul to its loyalty programme in a decade, with airfares paid now playing a larger part in determining customer rewards, the head of the business said Thursday. The move comes as Cathay is looking to increase revenue and cut costs as part of a three-year transformation programme designed to make it more efficient against aggressive competition. CEO Stephen Wong of Asia Miles, Cathay's loyalty programme, said the new award chart was a hybrid involving the airfare type, travel class and distance rather than being solely dependent on revenue and was based on customer feedback and studying other airline, hotel and retail loyalty programmes. "This is a balanced approach," he said, adding that 80% of tickets would earn more miles, with the remainder to destinations including Manila and San Francisco earning fewer. Asia Miles has 10m members, with most based in Hong Kong, mainland China, North America and Taiwan, a figure that has doubled over the last five years and is expected to continue to grow, Wong said.<br/>
Qantas said Thursday that it has been given more time to clarify how it refers to Chinese territories on its website, as a deadline set by Chinese authorities approaches. China's aviation regulator last month sent letters to 36 airlines asking them to remove references on their websites or in other material that suggests Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau are part of countries independent from China, in a move described by White House at the time as "Orwellian nonsense." One airline that received a letter and declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue told Reuters it was dated April 25 and gave carriers 30 days to comply, indicating a deadline of May 25. "We made adjustments to our websites earlier this year and, along with various other airlines worldwide, have been given additional time to further clarify how we refer to Chinese territories," a spokeswoman for Qantas said.<br/>
BA will transfer one out of three daily London Heathrow-Moscow services from Domodedovo (DME) to Sheremetyevo (SVO) from Oct. 28. The flight will be operated by an Airbus A321; the SVO terminal has not yet been disclosed. The airline said it wants to increase choices for passengers flying between the two capitals. BA will compete at SVO with Aeroflot, which operates up to 5X-daily London Heathrow services with A330, A321 and Boeing 737-800 aircraft. BA was one of the first foreign carriers to move from SVO to the renovated DME in 2003. <br/>