Airbus and Air France went on trial on Monday over their role in the 2009 crash of a Rio de Janeiro-Paris flight that plunged into the Atlantic Ocean, killing all 228 people on board, a hard-won step in a decade-long struggle by the families of victims to bring the two aviation giants to court. Prosecutors have charged Airbus, the aircraft manufacturer, and Air France, the main French airline, with involuntary manslaughter. But the legal pursuit has been slow and marked by years of repeated denials from the companies that they were criminally responsible for the accident, the deadliest in the airline’s history. Philippe Linguet, 59, who is one of 400 plaintiffs and whose brother Pascal died in the crash, said at the main courthouse in Paris, where the trial is being held, that the mere fact that the two companies were standing trial was a “great victory” after “years of ups and downs.” If convicted, the companies would each face a fine of 225,000 euros, or about $218,300, a figure that would do little to dent their bottom lines, but a guilty verdict against them could seriously hurt the reputation of both aviation heavyweights. Families of the victims have already received financial compensation. No individual executives or managers are standing trial, but Guillaume Faury, the CE for Airbus, and Anne Rigail, the CE for Air France — neither of whom were in their current positions at the time of the crash — stood still on the stand on Monday as the presiding judge read the names of the 228 passengers and crew members, one by one. Both expressed their condolences for the crash, which investigators said occurred after confused pilots responded inadequately to iced-over airspeed sensors, but both also said their companies were not guilty. “Air France doesn’t forget and will never forget,” Rigail told the court, but she insisted that the airline had not made any criminal mistakes. Faury said that “security is my number one priority,” but he also repeated Airbus’s stance that it was not criminally liable for the crash.<br/>
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Garuda Indonesia expects strong passenger travel demand through the year-end, as it works through restructuring and fleet rationalisation. Airline chief Irfan Setiaputra says the airline has seen passenger numbers grow about 11% this year, with international passengers seeing a three-fold rise in the first half of the year as borders reopen in key markets. By year end, the airline hopes to ramp up the total number of available seats to more than 2.7m, with the figure “moving dynamically” as Garuda works to restore aircraft into service, the airline chief adds. The “promising” outlook comes as the Jakarta-based airline swung back to profitability for the first-half of the year, on the back of significant income gained from its debt restructuring. For the six months to 30 June, Garuda posted a pre-tax profit of $4b, against a pre-tax loss of $985m during the same period in 2021. Revenue for the half-year rose about 26% year on year to $879m, while costs fell 12% to $1.2b. The airline disclosed almost $2.9b in income from debt restructuring, while it eliminated losses incurred from early lease termination. In a separate statement, Garuda says its restructuring plan has gotten over 95% creditor approval, and stresses that the debt restructuring income gain was recorded in accordance to relevant accounting standards and audited with an unqualified opinion. Garuda posted a net profit of $3.76b, reversing the $902m net loss in 2021. The airline also ended the period with about $131m in cash and cash equivalents, higher than what it started the year with. It reiterates that it will end the year with an operating fleet of 61 aircraft, with low-cost unit Citilink to have 58 jets. By year-end, Garuda also expects to return all its CRJ1000 regional aircraft. Says Setiaputra: “With the acceleration of … restructuring and the market outlook for the aviation industry which shows promising opportunities, especially in the domestic market, we project that the performance transformation mission that we are currently intensifying [will be able to] … make Garuda Indonesia a more healthy, adaptive and empowered business entity.”<br/>