Dutch judges will on Monday start hearing evidence against three Russian suspects and a Ukrainian in the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over war-torn Ukraine in 2014. The trial formally began in March 2020 but has so far been dealing with legal arguments, mainly about the admissibility of evidence in the crash in which 298 passengers and crew were killed. The four suspects - Russian nationals Oleg Pulatov, Igor Girkin and Sergei Dubinsky, and Ukrainian citizen Leonid Kharchenko - are all being tried in absentia. Only Pulatov has legal representation. "The court will open the MH17 criminal trial proper and, through examining and discussing the content of the prosecution file, elucidate the key questions which it has already begun to address," the court said in a statement. "Was flight MH17 shot down by a BUK missile? Was a BUK missile fired from an agricultural field near Pervomaiskyi? Did the accused play a role in this?" the statement added. The trial is being held in the Netherlands, in a secure courtroom near Schiphol airport, because it was the point of departure for the doomed plane, and because 196 of the victims were Dutch.<br/>
oneworld
Qantas said it was "disturbed" by claims that some staff may have been involved in organised crime following an Australian media report that gangs had "infiltrated" the airline. The Nine newspapers and 60 Minutes reported the allegations based on a classified intelligence operation. It said agencies believe organised crime groups had infiltrated Qantas to facilitate illegal activities. Qantas said authorities had not raised any concerns. The Nine newspapers said the classified intelligence operation found up to 150 Qantas staff had been linked to criminality. It said agencies believe they included motorcycle gangs that were involved in drug importation and other activities. The report said the suspected wrongdoing was "serious and represents a very high threat to the Australian border". The Nine newspapers said official sources briefed on the findings were unable to speak publicly "due to confidentiality requirements". The allegations include that one motorcycle gang affiliate is working at Qantas' Sydney airport operations and may have recruited criminals to the airline to help import narcotics.<br/>
Cathay Pacific has confirmed it will shut its Australian pilot base in a move that will lead to 120 staff facing a choice between redundancy or relocating to Hong Kong. The announcement comes only months after the business shut its Canadian pilot base, which followed the closing of its regional offshoot Cathay Dragon and overseas cabin crew bases, cutting 5,900 jobs since the start of the pandemic. The news was broken to staff via emails to pilots, only hours after receiving information about their recruitment efforts in Hong Kong. Aircrew general manager Deborah McConnochie apologised for “not being able to find an alternative”. “This is not a decision we have made lightly and is not a reflection on the performance of our Australian-based pilots, we will now do all we can to support you through this process” said McConnochie. The Australian reported that more than 40 of those affected are based in Melbourne, 27 are in Sydney, 26 in Brisbane, 15 in Perth and nine in Adelaide.<br/>
Fiji Airways became the first carrier in the Asia-Pacific region to take delivery of new Boeing 737 Max aircraft this year, after Fijian civil aviation authorities lifted the type’s grounding. However, the pair of new aircraft — delivered on 25 and 27 May, according to Cirium fleets data — are unlikely to fly anywhere yet, despite the airline’s key markets of Australia and New Zealand also lifting the type’s grounding. This is due largely to travel restrictions imposed to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Australia, for example, has closed off international borders until 2022. Fiji itself had battled a resurgence in coronavirus cases in April, after being relatively unscathed by the global pandemic. Indeed, in explaining the paradoxical circumstances surrounding the deliveries, Fiji Airways stressed that it was “contractually obligated” to take the new jets, registered DQ-FAH and DQ-FAE. The carrier had two 737 Max 8s in storage, which it took delivery of in 2018-2019. The remaining three jets, which were in its original order of five examples, were due to be delivered in mid-2019, but had to be deferred following the Max’s global grounding. Fiji Airways chief Andre Viljoen says that when the grounding was lifted in Fiji in April, a team of airline staff, including engineers and pilots, along with Fijian civil aviation authority staff were in Boeing’s aircraft delivery centre in Seattle to commence the handover process of the two aircraft. <br/>