Italy’s govt has resumed talks with Qatar Airways over possibly selling a stake in Meridiana airline to the Arabian Gulf carrier, but the talks are fraught with difficulty, Italy’s transport minister said Wednesday. Qatar Airways said earlier in June it had reached an impasse in negotiations to buy 49% of the Italian airline, due to disagreements over working conditions. "We have resumed contact with Qatar Airways but there are lots of problems," the transport minister Graziano Delrio said on the side-lines of a parliamentary hearing in Rome. Delrio was speaking the day before a deadline that has been set for the Italian govt, the Qatari airline and Meridiana to agree on the terms of the deal. <br/>
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Debris found on an Australian island earlier this month is not from missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, investigators said Wednesday. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau was notified June 9 that the debris had been found on Kangaroo Island off the southern Australian coast. The bureau, which is running the search in the southern Indian Ocean on Malaysia's behalf, said it had recovered the part but Boeing, the maker of the missing plane, advised that it was "not consistent with the manufacturing specifications of a Boeing commercial aircraft." The bureau did not say what the debris was likely from. Authorities say the plane likely crashed in the Indian Ocean, but officials have had no luck finding the main underwater wreckage despite an extensive search of a vast area of the ocean off Australia's west coast. <br/>
Cathay Pacific has announced a ban on shipments of shark fin in a move that has been welcomed by conservationists. Cathay is one of the world's biggest cargo airlines, and its decision is expected to have a sizeable impact. Previously, the airline had said it would only transport shark fin that was sustainably sourced. More than 70m sharks are killed every year, according to WWF figures. Large numbers are exported to Hong Kong, where they are consumed or further exported to mainland China. The airline said that the ban extended to all shark products on cargo and passenger flights. Marine conservationists hailed Cathay's decision. Cathay now joins airlines including British Airways, American Airlines, Qantas, SIA and Emirates in banning shark fin. <br/>
The British govt should only allow expansion of London Heathrow if measures are put in place to control costs of the multibillion-dollar project, Willie Walsh, CE of IAG, said Wednesday. Almost a year after an independent commission appointed by the UK govt recommended Heathrow be allowed to build a third runway, the govt has yet to decide whether it would back the move. Walsh has long been critical of the proposed cost of expansion plans, which could top US$26b. Wednesday, he presented his ideas for making a Heathrow expansion more palatable. “Any expansion at Heathrow should see open and transparent competition between suppliers to build new facilities. This would keep costs down and make the project easier to finance,” he said. <br/>