Ukraine on Tuesday called Russia a terrorist state at the top U.N. court as hearings began in a case over Moscow's backing of pro-Russian separatists blamed for shooting down Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 in 2014. It was the first time lawyers for Ukraine and Russia met at the International Court of Justice, also know as the World Court, since Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. Legal teams with dozens of representatives were sent by each side. A panel of 16 judges at the ICJ began hearing Ukraine's claim that Moscow violated a U.N. anti-terrorism treaty by equipping and funding pro-Russian forces who shot down the jetliner, killing all 298 passengers and crew. In the same claim, Ukraine has also asked the Hague-based court to order Russia to halt discrimination against the Tatar ethnic group in Crimea, a Ukrainian peninsula occupied by Russia since 2014. In opening remarks, Ukrainian Ambassador-at-Large Anton Korynevych commented on the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka hydroelectric dam hours earlier in Russian-held territory in Ukraine's southern Kherson region. Kyiv says Russia blew up the dam; the Kremlin has blamed what it says was Ukrainian sabotage. "Russia cannot defeat us on the battlefield, so it targets civilian infrastructure to try to freeze us into submission," Korynevych told hearings, describing Russia's actions as "the actions of a terrorist state". "Just today Russia blew up a major dam ..., causing significant civilian evacuations, ecological damage and threatening the safety of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant."<br/>
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Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. will pay an outstanding dividend of HK$1.52b ($194m) to the Hong Kong government at the end of the month, in another sign the carrier’s financial fortunes are turning the corner after Covid. Hong Kong’s flagship airline also said it won’t need to utilize a government HK$7.8b bridge loan that’s due to expire later this week. The outstanding dividend payment on the preference shares held by the Hong Kong government will be made on June 30, it added. Cathay CEO Ronald Lam said the repayment reflected his confidence in the airline and its financial health. “Our journey of rebuilding Cathay for Hong Kong is on the right track, and now is the appropriate time to begin repaying the support that the government has shown us,” Lam said. “As travel restrictions get lifted and travel demand returns, our group, further to being overall operating cash generative in 2022, has continued to be operating cash generative so far in 2023.”<br/>
Japan Airlines is planning to return to the transition bond market, seeking cheaper funds as one of the few carriers issuing the debt in a market dominated by utilities. The Tokyo-based airline has hired banks to sell about 10b yen ($72m) of 10-year transition notes next week, according to underwriter Daiwa Securities Co. JAL last year undertook its debut sale of the debt designed to help companies in heavy-emitting industries become more energy efficient and reduce emissions. Transition bond deals have increased 47% so far this year to $2.1b after Air France-KLM priced the biggest such deal of 2023, in a market that has been led by Japanese and Chinese issuers. A lack of clear standards for sales of such debt, compared especially with green finance guidelines in Europe, has limited sales of transition bonds globally.<br/>
SriLankan Airlines expects passenger traffic in the upcoming year-end travel season to surpass pre-pandemic levels, amid a boom in tourism a year after the country plunged into economic turmoil. Airline chairman Ashok Pathirage, who was speaking to FlightGlobal at the IATA AGM in Istanbul, says the airline intends to ramp up frequencies across the network, as the first of 10 new leased aircraft joins the fleet. It has plans to increase frequency to London, from nine weekly flights to twice daily, while services to India – the airline’s largest market – will be boosted from around 80 weekly flights currently to pre-pandemic frequencies of more than a 100. Pathirage also says the airline hopes to restore its network in Mainland China, where he acknowledges that initially demand recovery was “not what we had expected”. However, he notes that supply chain challenges – including engine reliability issues – could impact its recovery efforts. Much of the capacity ramp-up will come as it takes delivery of 10 leased aircraft in the next two to three months, says Pathirage. The Oneworld carrier secured leases for five Airbus A330s and A320s, to boost a fleet which had been cut amid ongoing restructuring efforts. “There are so many opportunities for us, but right now with all the issues…like a reduced fleet size…and engine issues…have created pressure for us,” Pathirage says. <br/>
Qantas Airways CEO Alan Joyce sold A$16.9m ($11.3m) of shares in the airline, offloading the bulk of his holdings as he prepares to retire after 15 years at the helm. Joyce sold 2.5m shares at A$6.75 apiece on June 1, a regulatory filing showed. Qantas shares fell 4.1% to A$6.35 on Tuesday. Joyce, 56, is due to hand over to Qantas CFO Vanessa Hudson in November. The filing indicates he sold his shares about 48 hours after fronting bullish investor-day presentations in Sydney that led to a three-day run of stock gains. According to the Australian Financial Review, Joyce executed the sale after buying a penthouse in the city overlooking the Sydney Opera House for A$9m. He had bought the shares for A$1.50 each in 2012, the newspaper said. Joyce still owns 228,924 shares in the Australian airline, the filing showed. They’re currently worth about A$1.5m.<br/>