People charged with being involved in shooting down flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014 moved the BUK missile battery back to Russia, a Dutch court heard on Thursday. Judges have been examining the route taken by a ground-air missile system that destroyed a Boeing 777 on July 17 2014, killing all 298 people on board, including 196 Dutch citizens. Investigators say the missile battery was deployed near the town of Pervomayski, which was controlled by Ukrainian separatists. Intercepted communications suggest a defence strategy was quickly drafted after the plane was shot down, according to which it was said to have been hit by a Ukrainian combat jet, which was then downed by the Russian missile battery. Russian nationals Oleg Pulatov, Igor Girkin and Sergei Dubinsky, and Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko were charged with murder after the airliner was blown from the sky on a routine flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. The missiles are believed to have come from the Russian army's 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade based in Kursk, not far from the border with Ukraine. Pulatov, the only defendant to be represented at the trial, told his lawyers that references to a "BUK" system in the intercepted conversations was intended to fool enemy forces.<br/>
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Vertical Aerospace, an electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOL) maker backed by investors such as American Airlines, will go public through a merger with a blank-check firm in a deal valued at $2.2b, the company said on Thursday. Vertical Aerospace said it has pre-orders for up to 1,000 eVTOL aircraft with launch customers Avolon and American Airlines, along with a pre-order option from Virgin Atlantic, all valued at up to $4b. “If you think about transportation strategically this is the next big frontier,” said Domhnal Slattery, CE of Avolon, the world’s third-largest aircraft leasing company. “Whether it is airlines operating this as an add-on product or ride sharing businesses in different jurisdictions, I think it is going to take a lot of different forms over time.” Investment in the zero-emission electric aircraft comes at a time when aviation companies are under mounting pressure from investors to help decarbonize the sector and boost their environmental, social and governance (ESG) scores. Analysts say a key question is how long it will take for the new electric aircraft to be certified by aviation authorities.<br/>
Alaska Air Group expects to be profitable in Q3 of this year, as it benefits from what chief executive Ben Minicucci describes as a “dramatic recovery” in leisure travel. Minicucci says: “For the last three months we’ve seen a dramatic change, a dramatic recovery. We’ve pretty much seen leisure demand come back to 100% and in some cases well over 100% [of pre-pandemic levels].” Underpinning that improvement for the Seattle-based group – which largely serves domestic markets through Alaska Airlines and regional unit Horizon Air – is the USA’s relatively advanced Covid-19 vaccination programme. “Vaccinations have proven to be the catalyst… people are confident to come back,” he states. “It’s quite remarkable just how quickly it has come back. I was worried a little bit about volatility – [traffic] coming back and dipping again – but with infections staying low, deaths staying low and just the pace of vaccinations increasing, I think the travelling public after 12-15 months of being cooped up are saying, ’look, we want to get out’.” The carrier reported an adjusted loss before tax of $577m in the first quarter of 2021, but is expecting “to approach breakeven” in the second three months of the year, after what Minicucci describes as “a massive swing”.<br/>
British Airways has furloughed thousands of its staff, citing delays to travel as the reason behind its decision. The airline confirmed on Thursday that a large number of its workers - including management staff - have been put back onto the scheme. Workers were being brought off furlough ahead of the summer holiday period after the Government set May 17 as the date for the restart of international travel. However, no top holiday destinations are on the green list, meaning travellers returning from places such as France, Spain and Italy must quarantine at home for 10 days. A large number of BA staff were already on furlough before the latest furlough decision took place, it is understood. It comes as the Government is under pressure to reopen international travel. On Thursday, Theresa May attacked ministers, warning that Britain is “shut for business” because of travel restrictions that are “incomprehensible” in one of the most vaccinated countries in the world.<br/>
Qatar Airways wrote in a tweet on Thursday that it would resume flying British and Irish nationals and UK residents to London from Qatar and across their network starting on Friday. The Qatari flag carrier said “all arrivals will be subject to quarantine requirements”. Jon Wilks, the British ambassador to Qatar, wrote in a tweet that Qatar Airways will resume direct passenger flights to London’s Heathrow Airport and Edinburgh Airport for British, Irish nationals and those with residency rights in the UK.<br/>