Australia and the Netherlands said on Monday they had begun joint legal action against Russia at the United Nations' aviation agency over the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 eight years ago. The Boeing 777 was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on July 17, 2014, when it was hit over rebel-held eastern Ukraine by what international investigators and prosecutors say was a Russian-made surface-to-air missile, killing all 298 on board. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Russia was responsible under international law and that taking the matter to the UN's ICAO would be a step forward in the fight for victims, including 38 Australians. The Dutch government said the UN Security Council had also been informed of the step. "The death of 298 civilians, including 196 Dutch, cannot and should not remain without consequences. The current events in Ukraine underscore the vital importance of this," Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra said. The rare procedure comes under an article of ICAO's Chicago Convention designed to protect civilian aircraft from weapons fire. It was added in 1984 following the shooting down of a South Korean airliner by Soviet fighters the previous year. The UN move is separate to a Dutch murder trial for four suspects over their individual criminal responsibility. Australia said it was seeking full reparations from Russia for the injury caused, and the suspension of Russia's voting power in ICAO, which sets standards for civilian air travel.<br/>
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Cathay Pacific does not “foresee significant signs of recovery” in the near term, as Hong Kong and Mainland China tighten travel restrictions amid a record surge in Omicron infections. The carrier, which posted an operating loss of HK$1.4b ($179m) in 2021, continues to see weak travel demand in what it called a “challenging” operating environment. Travel demand from its Mainland China routes have also dwindled, as Beijing imposed stricter capacity restrictions as part of pandemic management measures, adds the Oneworld carrier. In traffic results for February, Cathay carried just over 31,000 passengers. While that was nearly 48% more than February 2021, and a slight uptick against January’s 24,700 passengers, it still maked a 99% decline on the pre-pandemic numbers of February 2019. Cargo, which helped narrow the airline’s losses in 2021, also saw a decline in traffic, as operations were affected by stricter quarantine measures. In February, the airline carried over 65,000t of freight, a 21% decline year on year, and half the amount in 2019. Cathay Pacific chief commercial and customer officer Ronald Lam says: “Tightened requirements for cross-border trucking between the Chinese Mainland and Hong Kong, as well as the surge in Covid-19 cases in Hong Kong, reduced demand from our home market. Furthermore, the anticipated market recovery from Asia to long-haul destinations was slower than expected post-Chinese New Year.” Lam adds that the outlook remains bleak, particularly on the passenger travel side: “Looking ahead in March…we originally expected that the majority of passenger traffic would continue to come from our Chinese Mainland routes. However, stricter capacity restrictions have since been put in place by the Chinese Mainland authorities as part of their pandemic control measures. These, together with the current restrictions in Hong Kong, mean that we do not foresee significant signs of recovery in passenger travel demand in March,” he adds. <br/>
Qantas will reintroduce its full first class offering at the end of the month, as international travel gradually ramps up and more of the carrier's A380 superjumbos are put back to work. A fourth A380 has been reawakened from its slumber in a Californian desert storage yard, having been parked there since March 2020. The airline has utilised the hiatus from flying to carry out some significant upgrades, increasing the number of premium seats on board and refurbishing cabins and its first class lounge. The upgraded A380s have been reconfigured to offer more premium seats, with business suites increased to 70 (up from 64), premium economy increased to 60 (up from 35), and economy decreased to 341 (down from 371). The number of first class seats on board remains unchanged at 14. The A380 currently operates services from Sydney to Los Angeles, and from June will fly from Sydney to London via Singapore. Both first and economy cabins have been refurbished, along with the upper deck lounge (accessible to first, business and premium economy passengers) upgraded to offer booth-style seating for up to 10 passengers and a self-service bar.<br/>
Qantas flights from LA and San Francisco will soon use sustainable aviation fuel partly derived from waste almond orchards and other scrap agricultural products. On Tuesday, the business agreed a deal to buy almost 20m tonnes of the product from US biofuels company Aemetis, for use from 2025. It comes months after the Flying Kangaroo signed a separate deal with BP to purchase 10m litres of SAF to use on its flights from London. SAF produces up to 80% fewer emissions than traditional jet kerosene and is compatible with Qantas’ existing aircraft. The sustainable fuel for its US flights will be blended 40/60 with regular fuel and be produced at Aemetis’ 125-acre plant currently under development in Riverbank, California. It will lower emissions on flights out of San Francisco by 8%, and save 15,000 tonnes of carbon per year. Qantas CE Alan Joyce used the announcement to criticise the lack of investment in creating these fuels in Australia. “At the moment we can only buy sustainable fuels offshore,” said Joyce. “The US, UK and Europe have industries that have developed with a lot of government support because this is a new field and the long term benefits for those countries are obvious. Qantas has already committed $50m to support the development of a SAF industry in Australia, and we’d be its biggest customer. As well as the environmental and economic benefits, a local SAF industry would reduce the nation’s dependence on imported fuels. For now, SAF is more expensive than traditional fossil fuels but with the right investment it could grow to a scale where the cost is on par.”<br/>