A Cathay Pacific jetliner aborted its takeoff at Hong Kong International Airport early Saturday, and 11 passengers were injured while evacuating the aircraft, the airline said. Flight CX880, bound for Los Angeles, returned to the gate after a “technical issue” caused the crew to abort the takeoff and “a precautionary passenger evacuation” was initiated, the airline said in a statement. It said those on board used five escape slides to exit the plane. Cathay Pacific gave no details on the problem. Public broadcaster RTHK reported one of the plane’s tires had overheated, causing it to burst, citing police. The flight was carrying 293 passengers and 17 crew members. “We understand that 11 passengers are being treated at the hospital with injuries sustained during the evacuation process,” Cathay Pacific said. “Our priority is to look after all affected passengers and crew.” By 10:30 a.m., nine of the injured passengers had been discharged from the hospital, the airline said later. Using a different aircraft, the flight departed for Los Angeles at 10:12 a.m., carrying 283 passengers, it said.<br/>
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Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways expects to turn a profit for the January-June half for the first time in four years, the company said Friday, fueled by resurgent travel to Japan and other destinations. Cathay Pacific carried 6.26m passengers from January to May, roughly 34 times as many as a year earlier. In May alone, passenger numbers climbed about 24-fold from a year earlier. "Travel to Japan and Thailand [was] particularly popular" in May, said Lavinia Lau, chief customer and commercial officer, in a press release. "The peak summer season looks promising," Lau also said. The airline suffered a consolidated net loss of about 5.3b Hong Kong dollars ($677m at current rates) in January-June a year ago, part of three straight years of annual losses. The Hong Kong government followed mainland China in imposing strict border controls during the coronavirus pandemic, hitting Cathay Pacific hard. The company cut 8,500 jobs, or 24% of its workforce, in 2020. As a result, the airline faced a shortage of pilots and cabin attendants when travel recovered, hurting its ability to increase flights. Hong Kong's government is buying tickets from various airlines as part of a campaign to attract overseas visitors by giving away 500,000 free round-trip tickets. Cathay Pacific and its affiliated low-cost carrier Hong Kong Express will start accepting applications for the campaign in Japan starting on Monday.<br/>
Australia has imposed financial sanctions and travel bans on three men involved in the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17) over Ukraine in 2014, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Saturday. MH17 was shot down by a Russian BUK missile system as it flew over eastern Ukraine from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on July 17, 2014, killing all 298 passengers and crew, including 196 Dutch citizens and 38 Australian citizens or residents. In November, a Dutch court convicted two former Russian intelligence agents and a Ukrainian separatist leader in absentia of murder for their role in the incident, and handed them life sentences. Wong said the sanctions announced Saturday targeted Sergey Dubinskiy and Leonid Kharchenko, two of those convicted by the Dutch court last year. The third man targeted was Sergey Muchkaev, a colonel with the Russian Armed Forces who commanded the brigade that supplied the missile system responsible for downing the plane, Wong said. She said Australia had already sanctioned another man convicted over the plane's downing, Igor Girkin, for his involvement in supporting separatism in eastern Ukraine in 2014. "These sanctions demonstrate the Australian Government’s ongoing commitment to hold to account those responsible for the downing of Flight MH17," Wong said in a statement. "Australia is steadfast in our commitment to seek truth, justice and accountability for the victims of the downing of Flight MH17."<br/>
Qantas is urging Australians to use their outstanding COVID-19 flight credits, totalling over $400m, or seek a refund before they expire at the end of this year. Australia’s biggest airline extended the expiry date for a third time earlier this year after coming under pressure to amend its COVID-19 credit policy and being accused of inflexibility and poor customer service. The carrier is hoping to incentivise bookings by offering double Frequent Flyer points to customers who book a flight using COVID-19 credit before July 31. “We know the credits system has been challenging because of the sheer complexity of putting millions of bookings in a holding pattern for up to three years,” said Qantas chief customer officer Markus Svensson. The airline has made a number of changes to its booking system to make it easier for customers to book with their credit, Svensson added. The $400 million figure has halved from $800m in February this year, with the original figure at $2b in the two years to October 2021. Most of the outstanding credit, about 80%, can be claimed as a refund instead. Customers who booked directly with Qantas can contact the airline to request a refund, while those who booked through a travel agent have been told to get in touch with their agent. The airline has also launched a ‘Find My Credit’ tool on its website to help Qantas and Jetstar customers find their credits using their surname, email address, or original booking reference of up to three years old. Customers who booked through travel agents can also use the tool to find their ticket number and travel agent details. “Qantas has one of the most flexible COVID credit policies of any airline, including among our global peers, and we’ve extended the booking expiry date three times,” said Svensson.<br/>