British Airways cancelled and delayed flights at London’s Heathrow, Europe’s biggest airport, on Wednesday due to problems with a supplier’s IT systems, the airline said. A number of BA flights were cancelled or being delayed by several hours at Heathrow’s Terminal 5, according to the airport’s departure board. “We are working with our supplier to resolve the matter and are sorry for the disruption to our customers’ travel plans,” BA said. The carrier suffered a massive computer system failure in May 2017, caused by a power supply issue near Heathrow, which stranded 75,000 customers over a busy holiday weekend. Its CE said at the time it would take steps to ensure such an incident never happened again. Passengers at the airport on Wednesday described chaotic scenes as people tried to catch flights and complained there was a lack of information from the airline. “Utter chaos at LHR, no communication, no emergency processes and no clue,” one passenger Dominic Hill said on Twitter.<br/>
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An Australian father who lost three children in the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 has lashed out at President Donald Trump for his relationship with Russia, on the fourth anniversary of the tragedy. Anthony Maslin's father and three children, Mo, Evie and Otis, were among 298 passengers who died in 2014 when the flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down. The plane had been above Ukraine territory controlled by pro-Russian separatists, and investigators in May said the missile had been fired by a Russian brigade. Russia has repeatedly denied involvement in the incident. In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Maslin lambasted Trump's unwillingness to condemn Russia, accusing him of ignoring "irrefutable facts." "That passenger flight MH17 was shot out of the sky and 298 innocent people were murdered is an irrefutable fact," Maslin wrote. "That the plane was hit by a Russian missile has been proven to be an irrefutable fact. That the man whose arse you've just been kissing did this, and continues to lie about it, is an irrefutable fact." The political controversy came as leaders worldwide spoke out to commemorate the fourth anniversary of MH17 and demand accountability. The G7 foreign ministers condemned the shooting down "in the strongest possible terms."<br/>
Malaysia Airlines flight MH134 en route to Kuala Lumpur from Brisbane, Australia was forced to return to Brisbane International Airport at 11.18pm last night over ‘a technical issue.’ MAS said the decision to turn back was made out of an abundance of caution, as the safety of the passengers and crew are of the utmost importance. “The flight, which was scheduled to land at Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 5.50am this morning, landed safely at Brisbane International Airport at 12.34am. “The aircraft is currently undergoing a technical inspection,” it added.<br/>
Cathay Pacific Airways has parachuted one of its star performers – a man barely halfway through leading its company restructure – into a new role tackling an issue central to the loss-making airline’s return to profitability: disgruntled pilots. Strategic transformation head Alex McGowan is the new GM for aircrew, sources said. McGowan had lately been in charge of turning around Hong Kong’s flagship carrier, including overseeing 600 job cuts earlier last year. His main task will be to give the airline’s talks with pilots another shot. They stalled last November over disagreements on pay, benefits and changes to flying schedules. To shave HK$4b from its books by next year, Cathay Pacific has been pushing for savings on aircrew costs of up to HK$1b. Insiders say McGowan is well liked by staff and is credited with getting the job done and delivering on big projects. In his transformation role, he reported directly to CEO Rupert Hogg. He has been in the industry for more than two decades and held a string of roles in commercial and marketing divisions, previously working for BA.<br/>