A team of Pakistani and French investigators on Wednesday sifted through the wreckage of a Pakistani airliner that crashed in the southern city of Karachi last Friday, searching for clues around what caused the worst airline disaster in the country in years. Investigators were also hunting for the Airbus A320 jet's cockpit voice recorder, said a spokesman for Pakistan International Airlines. "The flight data recorder has been found; the cockpit voice recorder is still being traced," PIA's spokesman said. Earlier, the spokesman told media the black box had been found and it contained both the data and voice recorder. Parts of the wreckage of the A320 were removed from the site on Wednesday after extracting them from building rubble in the densely populated area where the PIA jet crashed. Under international aviation rules, French investigators from the BEA - the French air safety investigation authority for civil aviation - have joined the Pakistan-led probe because the 15-year-old Airbus jet was designed in France. Their arrival was initially hampered by widespread travel bans in force to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The French team and technical representatives of Airbus and engine maker Safran had to be flown in on an Airbus A330-900 test plane. The French team is now helping Pakistani authorities search for the cockpit voice recorder and examining the fuselage, which ploughed between buildings and was partly buried under rubble. Particular focus will be on the plane's CFM56 engines, one of which plunged into the side of a building, according to a person close to the investigation.<br/>
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The Richard Branson-linked investment fund Cyrus Capital has said it wants to maintain Virgin Australia as a full-service international airline competing head-to-head with Qantas if it wins the race to buy the collapsed carrier. The New York-based group - which has a history of investing in airlines with Branson's Virgin Group - has told unions and state governments its long-term plan is for Virgin to remain roughly the same size it was before going into voluntary administration in April, according to sources close to the bid. The revelation of Cyrus' ambitions come amid growing fears that Virgin's new owners could drastically slash the size of its operations or turn it into a budget airline, at the loss of jobs and competition for the travelling public. Cyrus is competing against US private equity fund Bain Capital, Melbourne-based outfit BGH Capital and the American ultra-low cost airline specialist Indigo Partners. Sources close to Cyrus' bid who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss confidential matters said the fund would cut some regional routes from Virgin's domestic network but otherwise continue flying between capital cities and major regional centres. International flying would gradually return as demand recovers from COVID-19, with a new fleet of fuel-efficient Boeing 787 Dreamliners to replace Virgin's Boeing 777s and Airbus A330s within the next five years.<br/>
Ryanair is the worst major airline for refunding British customers whose flights have been cancelled during the coronavirus pandemic, with more than eight out of 10 people still waiting for their money back, according to figures from Which?. The airline’s failure to pay refunds, in line with passengers’ legal rights, contrasted sharply with BA, said Which? It found that 84% of Ryanair customers it surveyed have not received a refund as requested, compared with 23% at BA and 19% at another low-cost airline, Jet2. Refunds are also being processed slowly at easyJet, with 60% of customers still waiting for their money back, according to the consumer group. Ryanair has been widely accused of confusing customers, with numerous changes to its approach to refunds and vouchers. “Despite initially telling customers it was processing refunds at the beginning of the crisis, customers reported that Ryanair provided refund forms that didn’t work, before attempting to force vouchers on passengers who had specifically requested refunds. It also repeatedly changed the timeframe for receiving a refund, suggesting at one point customers may have to wait up to 12 months for their money back,” Which? said.<br/>