The father of a victim aboard Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 -- shot down by Iranian missiles in January 2020 -- has arrived in Ottawa after marching for over two weeks to meet Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Mehrzad Zarei, father of 17-year-old Arad who died in the shootdown, began his journey from Richmond Hill, Ont., to Ottawa on Aug. 10 to hand Trudeau a letter with demands for justice for the flight victims. Among the demands is listing Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist group. A branch of the IRGC, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Qods Force, is already listed as a terrorist group by Public Safety Canada. More than 100 of the 176 people killed in the plane crash on Jan. 8, 2020, had ties to Canada, including 55 Canadian citizens and 30 permanent residents. With Trudeau in Nunavut on Thursday, Zarei was ushered in to meet parliamentary secretary to the prime minister Greg Fergus instead. Zarei is accompanied by family members of other victims from Flight 752 who held photos of their loved ones and remained outside the Prime Minister's Office. "Today's message, we say, enough is enough," Zarei told reporters before entering the meeting. He listed demands that also included Canadian sanctions on Iranian authorities and for the case to be pursued at the International Court of Justice. Zarei went on to read his letter addressed to Trudeau.<br/>
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European budget carrier Wizz Air (WIZZ.L) is considering basing an airline in Saudi Arabia as part an agreement signed with the government this year to develop the kingdom's aviation sector, its chief executive said in an interview on Thursday. Wizz Air, which said in May it would explore opportunities in Saudi Arabia, announced on Thursday it was launching direct flights to Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam from 11 European cities starting early next year, including from Rome, Milan and Vienna. "The scope of ... exploring opportunities in the country may go beyond being an inbound carrier and may also involve making direct investments," CEO Jozsef Varadi said from Riyadh. He said that included considering applying for an Air Operator's Certificatein Saudi Arabia to base an airline there, without saying when a decision could be made on the AOC. A Saudi license could allow a subsidiary or joint venture to operate domestic services in the kingdom, which has a population of about 36 million. It could also operate international flights that start in Saudi Arabia, opening up access to new markets. Wizz Air, whose main operations are in central and eastern Europe, has AOCs in Hungary and the United Kingdom. Wizz Air Abu Dhabi, a branded joint venture between the airline and an Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, has a United Arab Emirates AOC. Saudi Arabia liberalised its tourism industry in 2019, aiming to make it significantly easier for foreigners to visit the kingdom, which had been relatively closed off for many decades.<br/>
Wizz Air CE Jozsef Varadi said Thursday demand was looking “pretty strong” in the fourth quarter, with consumer demand intact amid high inflation and concerns of a global recession. He also said that pressures on the aviation supply chain in Europe that has caused widespread industry delays and cancellations over the summer were showing signs of easing.<br/>
Budget airline Wizz Air has appointed industry veteran and non-executive director Stephen Johnson to the newly created role of deputy chair, the company said on Thursday. It has also set up a panel on safety, security and operational compliance, partly to oversee the group’s expansion plans, to be chaired by Charlotte Pedersen. The moves, which took effect on July 26, come at a time when Wizz is fighting surging costs and airlines across Europe struggle with labour strife this summer, when the rapid recovery in tourism has led to staff shortages and demand by employees for higher wages. “The addition of the new safety, security and operational compliance committee will reinforce the group’s strong safety culture and enhance oversight of the group’s expansion plans,” Chairman William Franke said in a statement.<br/>
Norwegian Air is considering hedging some of its jet fuel costs as kerosene prices have fallen, its CE Geir Karlsen told Reuters on Thursday. "It is our thinking now that we could add a bit of hedge," Karlsen said. The northwest European jet fuel price in the spot market soared to all-time highs above $1,600 per tonne in early March after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. It has since fallen back to around $1,264 on Thursday. On Aug. 8, it was as low as $1,000.<br/>
Nearly 290,000 seats have been cut from bank holiday flight schedules in recent weeks, according to new analysis. Aviation data company Cirium said around 900 flights due to depart from UK airports between Friday and Tuesday have been removed from schedules since the start of July. Most of the cancellations were caused by staff shortages across the aviation industry, which has led to caps on operations at airports such as Heathrow and Gatwick. This has disrupted the plans of millions of holidaymakers this summer and sparked a spike in air fares. Cirium said the number of outbound flights over the August bank holiday period is 21% below 2019 levels. British Airways has made the largest cut since July 1, with nearly 380 departures scrapped. Flybe has removed more than 130 outbound flights from its schedules, while easyJet has axed around 90 flights. The number of cancelled inbound flights between Friday and Tuesday is also around 900, meaning the total number of seats on aircraft serving UK airports is approximately 288,000 fewer than planned. Paul Charles, CE of travel consultancy The PC Agency, said: "It's astonishing to see over a quarter of a million seats cut from flight schedules, at a time when demand to fly remains high. "Some UK airports are continuing to impose caps on the numbers departing, so disrupting travel plans and forcing seat prices higher due to the squeeze on availability.<br/>