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A man who was among British Airways passengers and crew taken hostage in Kuwait and used as human shields during Saddam Hussein’s invasion, who are suing the airline, said his ordeal was made worse by its staff’s homophobia. On Friday, more than 100 claimants served legal papers on BA and the government, who they say both knew the invasion had taken place hours before flight BA149 landed in Kuwait in 1990. Barry Manners, then 24, said the attitude of BA staff, who took charge at the hotel where people were held, changed when they discovered that his partner, Anthony Yong, had Aids after he requested medication. He said they told them to stay in the room to avoid contaminating others and talked about transferring Yong to the local infectious disease hospital, despite the risk this would pose to him with his compromised immune system. “They dropped a litre of disinfectant outside the room for us to disinfect the room, and food was brought up,” said the 58-year-old. “We had strict instructions that when they would knock on the door three times or something, a tray of food would be left. We then had to wait five minutes so that they could clear the corridor. “Do you know [the TV Aids drama] It’s a Sin? I think it’s set in 1983-84, and those were the sorts of attitudes that you’d expected then, of people being isolated and chained to beds and God knows what. Well, that’s where we were, but seven years later, at the behest of an organisation that had had dozens, at least, of their own personnel who’d actually become ill with that very disease. I was just astonished that these attitudes existed – it was like being back in the middle ages.” He said that after about 10 days in the hotel, BA’s sales manager phoned saying they were being moved to the local hospital, and BA crew, along with hotel management, lined up to evict them.<br/>

It’s been a tough year for investors in European aviation, with Boeing’s production woes, engine problems grounding aircraft and the still-sluggish corporate-travel market weighing on the sector. Carriers including Air France-KLM, Deutsche Lufthansa and Wizz Air Holdings Plc have failed to replicate the post-pandemic gains of 2023 — but one airline group has bucked the trend. British Airways’ parent IAG almost doubled in value this year, making it the second-best performer on the Bloomberg World Airlines Index, and the only European carrier among the Top 10 gainers. Lufthansa, the biggest airline group in the region, is last on that list, with a 24% decline. There are several reasons for IAG’s standout year. Its core transatlantic market boomed, bolstered by the introduction of extra-long-range Airbus SE narrow-body jets which has expand the group’s US reach from Europe. Shareholders benefited from a dividend reinstatement, and the company repaid all of its pandemic-era debt. And to set its customer experience apart from competitors, British Airways recently unveiled a brand-new first class cabin that will debut on the Airbus A380 double decker in 2026 and will compete against Lufthansa’s long-delayed Allegris product.<br/>

Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. projected “strong” financial results in the second half of the year, aided by increased cargo demand and lower fuel prices. Hong Kong’s de-facto flag carrier said its expected results will be partially offset by a continued normalization of passenger yields, according to a stock exchange filing Friday. “The second half of the year has historically been the stronger of the two halves for the Group and this has been the case this year as it was in 2023,” Cathay’s Chief Customer and Commercial Officer Lavinia Lau said. Results from associates, which include Air China Ltd., are expected to improve compared with the first half, the airline said. Cathay’s net income in the second half of 2023 was HK$5.5b ($708m). Analysts project Cathay will deliver full-year net income of around HK$7.5b, lower than its 2023 results. First-half net income fell 15% to HK$3.6b from a year earlier as post-Covid travel demand normalized.<br/>

Cathay Pacific Airways has apologised for diverting a US-bound flight to Tokyo because of an unruly passenger before returning to Hong Kong, causing a delay of about 15 hours for travellers on board. Hong Kong’s flag carrier on Sunday pointed to safety guidelines, handling constraints at Tokyo’s Haneda airport and statutory requirements on crew operations as the reasons for the return. It apologised for the inconvenience caused to passengers. Cathay Pacific flight 812 took off from Hong Kong International Airport on Saturday at around 7.40pm, heading for Boston in the United States. But the service was diverted to Tokyo’s Haneda airport to deal with the disruptive passenger, according to a Post reporter on board. Social media users who posted details of the ordeal online said the passenger had assaulted others on the flight and was arrested by police in Tokyo. After a layover in the Japanese capital, the flight departed for Hong Kong at 3.15am on Sunday and landed at around 7.15am. Passengers boarded another plane in Hong Kong, with a different crew, before departing again at 10.45am. The flight was scheduled to arrive in Boston on Monday at 1.26am Hong Kong time.<br/>

Malaysia Airlines has grounded its new Airbus A330neo plane within days of its maiden flight due to technical issues, the Business Times reported on Sunday. The aircraft suffered a series of technical issues since its inaugural flight to Melbourne on Dec 19, according to the report. Malaysia’s national carrier received the A330neo on Nov. 29, and has an orderbook for another 19 of the same planes. Malaysia Airlines CEO Izham Ismail told the local newspaper that the airline identified three technical issues that were due to the quality of factory production and delivery level. The aircraft is grounded for 48 hours. “We need Airbus and Rolls-Royce to investigate the root cause of these issues on the brand-new aircraft,” Izham was quoted as saying. “This happening to a brand-new aircraft is not acceptable. To me, it’s embarrassing.” An Airbus spokesperson told BT that it’s ready to support Malaysia Airlines with the technical issues around their new aircraft. A Rolls-Royce spokesperson said an initial troubleshoot on the A330neo has identified a faulty electrical component and replacement of the part is in progress. <br/>

Transmissions from amateur radio enthusiasts may hold the key to locating the wreckage of the Malaysia Airlines jet that vanished a decade ago in one of the greatest aviation mysteries. The Malaysian government announced on Friday that it had agreed to resume the search for the remains of MH370, the Boeing 777 that disappeared in March 2014 while carrying 239 people. Efforts will focus on a new area of seabed covering around 5,800 square miles – slightly bigger than Northern Ireland – according to Anthony Loke, the Malaysian transport minister. The search will be led by underwater exploration firm Ocean Infinity, which conducted the last sweep in 2018. This time around, the investigation is expected to draw on a new area of research involving so-called WSPR – pronounced “whisper” – transmissions from amateur radio operators. An acronym for Weak Signal Propagation Reporter, WSPR was designed as a way of sending and receiving low-power transmissions to test the capabilities of antennas used by amateur radio enthusiasts – known as radio hams – and the extent of their reach. WSPR transmitters send thousands of low-power radio pulses around the world every two minutes, with any given signal disturbed should an aircraft cross it, or so the theory goes. Richard Godfrey, a retired aerospace engineer, who has worked with Nasa, Boeing and Airbus, has advanced the theory that an examination of historical WSPR data might help pin down the flight path of MH370. His own analysis pointed to a search area with a radius of less than 20 miles, some 1000 miles west of Perth, Australia. Godfrey told The Telegraph he understood the target zone he identified would be covered by Ocean Infinity’s new search. The company will also examine parallel strands of research such as examinations of hydro-acoustics data from the time of the disappearance.<br/>