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American Airlines will grow its international network through various aircraft and scheduling efficiencies, and not through ordering the latest large widebodies. Neither the Boeing 777X nor the Boeing 787-10 are in the carrier's fleet plan currently, says Vasu Raja, VP of network & schedule planning at American, in response to a question about widebody fleet growth. "There is definitely some growth built into our fleet plan," he says. "Buying new planes is just one way to achieve that growth. Others include using larger aircraft, flying them farther…or scheduling them more efficiently." The question referred to American's order for 47 787s, including 22 -8s and 25 -9s, in April. The airline emphasised at the time that the deal was to replace its Airbus A330-300, Boeing 767-300ER and some of its 777-200 fleets, and not for growth. <br/>

President Vladimir Putin rejected accusations by the Netherlands and Australia that Russia was responsible for the 2014 crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, after investigators said they found proof the missile that downed the plane belonged to a Russia-based military unit. “No, of course not,” Putin replied when asked if a Russian missile had shot down the aircraft, killing all 298 people aboard, most of them Dutch citizens. “There are different versions of this tragedy, but no one takes them into account,” Putin told the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum Friday. Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte said his country and Australia would pursue Russia over its violation of international law. “So my message to the Russians is that we expect them now to fully cooperate with the investigation,” he said. <br/>