Airline lawyers and the Justice Department delivered starkly contrasting views of an alliance between American Airlines and JetBlue during closing arguments Friday in a case that will test the Biden administration’s aggressive enforcement of antitrust laws. The partnership lets American and JetBlue coordinate schedules and share revenue on many routes to and from New York and Boston, which the government argued will cost consumers hundreds of millions of dollars a year in higher fares. “It is a very important case to us ... because of those families that need to travel and want affordable tickets and good service,” Justice lawyer Bill Jones said in federal district court in Boston. Lawyers for the airlines said the partnership has spawned new routes that are good for travelers. They argued that during a monthlong trial, the government failed to show any evidence that the deal has hurt consumers. “It’s all just an idea,” said Daniel Wall, a lawyer for American. When attorneys finished their arguments, US District Judge Leo Sorokin said he is still reading material hundreds of pages of material submitted this week by both sides. A decision is likely weeks away. The government’s case is intuitive — that two big airlines working together instead of competing will reduce choices for consumers and lead to higher fares. The lawsuit, joined by six states and the District of Columbia, is also speculative, however.<br/>
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The Dutch government said on Friday it had summoned the Russian ambassador in the Netherlands over what it called Moscow's "utterly despicable" response to the verdict in the trial over the 2014 downing of Flight MH17. Russia said on Thursday the Dutch court's decision to convict two former Russian intelligence agents and a Ukrainian separatist leader for shooting down the Malaysian airliner "neglected impartiality". All 298 people aboard were killed. Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra said these remarks by Russia, which invaded Ukraine nine months ago, were "utterly despicable" and totally removed from reality. "Russia itself violates international laws in every way. We can't let this pass ... and have to show that we do respect the rule of law and do have an independent judiciary," Hoekstra told Dutch newspaper AD. Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014, as fighting raged between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian government forces, the precursor of this year's conflict. In its ruling, the court said there was no doubt that the plane had been downed by a Russian missile system, and that Russia had "overall control" over the separatist forces in the region from mid-May 2014.<br/>
Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways Friday forecast a "substantial" annual loss even though second-half results are expected to improve sequentially thanks to an uptick in travel and air cargo demand. The airline carried over five times more passengers in October than last year, although the figure was 85.4% lower than pre-pandemic levels in 2019. It warned that second-half results from its associates, the majority of which are recognised three months in arrears, will still include significant losses. Cathay reported an H1 loss of HK$5b ($639.11m) and analysts expect it to record an annual net loss of HK$3.8b, according to Refinitiv IBES estimates. It reported a HK$5.5b loss last year. Still, the company said it was on track to achieve its target of operating at up to one-third of pre-pandemic passenger flight capacity levels by the end of 2022. "Travel demand for the rest of 2022 continues to improve and is promising for the Christmas holiday period," Chief Customer and Commercial Officer Ronald Lam said.<br/>