Latest news with #HongKongAirlines
South China Morning Post
5 days ago
- Automotive
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong Airlines flight ends up facing other aircraft on Taiwan runway
A Hong Kong Airlines plane had a close encounter with another aircraft on the runway after landing at Taoyuan airport in Taiwan on Friday in what appears to have been a blunder by air traffic controllers. The Hong Kong-based carrier later denied some Taiwanese media reports that its aircraft had landed on the wrong runway. Hong Kong Airlines flight HX252 was carrying 161 passengers and seven crew members and left the city at about 9.15am for Taoyuan International Airport in Taiwan. The aircraft was taxiing on the runway after landing at about 11.10am but encountered Hainan Airlines flight HU7987, with the two planes facing each other. The Hong Kong aircraft, an Airbus A320, eventually had to be towed to the right parking space. In a statement in the afternoon, Hong Kong Airlines said its flight was using the runway as instructed by Taiwanese air controllers. 'Hong Kong Airlines confirms that [Friday's] flight HX252 from Hong Kong to Taipei Taoyuan Airport was taxiing in accordance with the air control tower's instruction after landing, during which it was changed to use a tow truck to assist in towing the aircraft to the designated parking space following the air control tower's new instruction,' it said.
South China Morning Post
5 days ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong Airlines to launch new direct routes to Melbourne and Lijiang
Hong Kong Airlines will roll out a new direct service to Melbourne and Lijiang in Yunnan province as part of an aggressive network expansion, with the carrier pledging to capitalise on the increased capacity of the city's international airport. The carrier said on Friday it would operate its direct service to Melbourne three times a week from December 12 using an Airbus A330 aircraft. The flight schedule will be flexibly timed to facilitate connections for passengers transiting through Hong Kong to popular destinations such as Vancouver, Bali, Tokyo and Osaka, it added. On Thursday, the company said it would launch the service between Hong Kong and Lijiang three times a week from September 8, using an Airbus A320 aircraft as the sole local carrier operating the route. Following the launch of services to Hulunbuir and Xi'an, Lijiang will become the airline's third new mainland China destination this year. 'This move aligns with the company's strategy to continuously develop its mainland China network and provide travellers with more diverse travel options,' it said. 'The new route … also facilitates convenient connections for transit passengers travelling on the airline's long-haul routes, such as Sydney and Vancouver, thereby strengthening Hong Kong's position as a leading international aviation hub.' Hong Kong Airlines' president Jeff Sun Jianfeng said the new destination of Melbourne would boost its Australian network following the resumption of its Gold Coast service in January and the launch of the Sydney route in June.
The Irish Sun
6 days ago
- The Irish Sun
Brit pilot jailed in ex-Soviet hell prison could be freed after ex-wife's ‘chilling confession to killing baby' emerges
A BRIT pilot jailed for murder in a hellhole ex-Soviet prison could be freed after his ex-wife 'confessed' to killing their baby daughter. Mohamed Barakat, 46, is 10 Mohamed Barakat is pictured on his wedding day with his ex-wife Madina Abdullayeva Credit: East2West 10 Barakat is serving 20 years over the death of daughter Sophia Credit: East2West 10 Madina was the main prosecution witness at the trial Credit: East2West 10 Madina is seen on hotel CCTV calling for help Credit: East2West Bombshell recordings have now emerged of Madina Abdullayeva, 28, apparently admitting to unintentionally causing the death of her daughter Sophia. Barakat was sentenced in 2020 after a judge ruled he But the chilling audio which has been newly uncovered could mean the commercial pilot, who flew for a subsidiary of Hong Kong Airlines, could be freed or face a retrial. Madina was the main prosecution witness at his trial in Read more about crime here Barakat received a maximum sentence under the criminal code because of the "aggravating circumstance' of committing the murder 'in a state of alcoholic and drug intoxication', said the appeal court. The country's prosecutor's office recently triggered an investigation 'on newly discovered circumstances', namely a confession by the pilot's glamorous ex-wife that she killed the baby. Detailed analysis including a 'forensic video-phonoscopy examination' reveals the confession to be Madina's voice, the pilot's legal representatives have been informed. It also found there was no tampering of the WhatsApp recording. Most read in The Sun The pilot himself recorded his ex-wife from inside his prison. 'I kill her….,' Madina is accused of posting, in evidence now being examined by police. 'I know you did,' replied the pilot, who has always maintained his innocence and previously claimed that his wife accidentally killed the child on 24 October 2019, but blamed him. Madin allegedly said on the recorded call to Barakat how she broke Sophia's neck at the hotel in Almaty. 'I left…and then when I come back, she is awake and crying because she's hungry. 'I start to feed her. And then she start to poo… 'And I try to wash her bum. And when I wash her, I break her neck…' She also told him she wanted to have another child with him. In a video made by privately-schooled Barakat, he said of her 'confession': 'Two days ago, we had another argument. 'I told her I would never have another baby with her until she told me what happened to my daughter, Sophia Barakat. 10 Barakat received a maximum sentence Credit: East2West 10 The courts ruled that Madina had been beaten by her husband Credit: East2West 10 Barakat was sentenced in 2020 after a judge ruled he smashed his "smiling" baby during a drunken drug-fuelled hotel rampage Credit: East2West 'And here you can see, she wrote 'Call me please'. 'And then, she writes 'I kill her'. In later conversations, Madina repeatedly asks him to 'forgive me'. These accounts are startlingly different from the version accepted by judges at the pilot's trial and appeal. The courts ruled that Madina had been beaten by her husband - despite no evidence she had any injuries - and left their hotel room after which he killed the child. The wife then opened the door and picked up the motionless girl, rushing down to the hotel lobby, where she was seen on security cameras. Madina had shouted: 'He killed my child, he hit her,' according to one hotel staff member. Hotel workers said the baby was 'blue'. Earlier they remembered the British girl as 'always smiling' during the family's stay at the Intercontinental Hotel in Almaty. The wife collapsed several times in the lobby as staff called medics who found the baby to be dead. 10 In later conversations, Madina repeatedly asks him to 'forgive me' Credit: East2West 10 The pilot was said by the judge to be drunk and under the influence of drugs Credit: East2West 10 Mohamed Barakat, 46, is serving a 20-year sentence Credit: East2West There are a host of other inconsistencies regarding the verdict. In turning down an appeal by the pilot, three women judges in 2021 ruled that 'the guilt of the convict [Barakat] was proved by the testimony of a witness - a hotel maid - that she heard the sounds of banging on the wall, after which the crying of the child immediately fell silent'. The judges said: 'More than ten witnesses testified that they saw the woman [Madina] with the child in her arms, who ran to the reception and reported that her drunken husband had killed her child.' Yet law enforcement broke their own rules in using photographs not the corpse to establish fatal wounds. Based on these errors, the court found Sophia died from 'multiple impacts…caused by repeated blows' - namely from Barakat banging his child's head repeatedly against the walls or doors, smashing the child's brain. The pilot was said by the judge to be drunk and under the influence of drugs yet astonishingly no drugs were found in his blood or urine, according to documents in the case. The only evidence of drug use was a toxicology test showing traces of THC in vomit from the hotel mattress, yet the centre has dismissed use of such evidence as unreliable. 'CCTV shows him walking steadily into the hotel, handing balloons to his daughter, and carrying her. Hotel staff said he did not appear drunk,' said his lawyer Din-Mukhamed Narymbetov. Additionally, Madina was the main prosecution witness based on evidence she gave in the aftermath of the killing. 'Her statements were obtained with procedural violations, and she eventually retracted them,' said the lawyer. Barakat said after obtaining his ex-wife's 'confession': 'Madina knows I am innocent. My family knows I'm innocent. The lawyers who stood with me - they know I'm innocent.' He must now wait for the Kazakh authorities to decide on the next legal steps. Asked to comment, Madina Abdullayeva said: 'I am not going to answer these questions.'
Scottish Sun
6 days ago
- Scottish Sun
Brit pilot jailed in ex-Soviet hell prison could be freed after ex-wife's ‘chilling confession to killing baby' emerges
'I BREAK HER NECK' Brit pilot jailed in ex-Soviet hell prison could be freed after ex-wife's 'chilling confession to killing baby' emerges Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A BRIT pilot jailed for murder in a hellhole ex-Soviet prison could be freed after his ex-wife 'confessed' to killing their baby daughter. Mohamed Barakat, 46, is serving a 20-year sentence in a high security jail in Kazakhstan but has always maintained his innocence. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 10 Mohamed Barakat is pictured on his wedding day with his ex-wife Madina Abdullayeva Credit: East2West 10 Barakat is serving 20 years over the death of daughter Sophia Credit: East2West 10 Madina was the main prosecution witness at the trial Credit: East2West 10 Madina is seen on hotel CCTV calling for help Credit: East2West Bombshell recordings have now emerged of Madina Abdullayeva, 28, apparently admitting to unintentionally causing the death of her daughter Sophia. Barakat was sentenced in 2020 after a judge ruled he smashed his "smiling" baby during a drunken drug-fuelled hotel rampage, crushing her head against a wall. But the chilling audio which has been newly uncovered could mean the commercial pilot, who flew for a subsidiary of Hong Kong Airlines, could be freed or face a retrial. Madina was the main prosecution witness at his trial in Kazakhstan. Read more about crime here 'MURDER' PROBE Man in his 60s arrested on suspicion of murdering elderly woman in village Barakat received a maximum sentence under the criminal code because of the "aggravating circumstance' of committing the murder 'in a state of alcoholic and drug intoxication', said the appeal court. The country's prosecutor's office recently triggered an investigation 'on newly discovered circumstances', namely a confession by the pilot's glamorous ex-wife that she killed the baby. Detailed analysis including a 'forensic video-phonoscopy examination' reveals the confession to be Madina's voice, the pilot's legal representatives have been informed. It also found there was no tampering of the WhatsApp recording. The pilot himself recorded his ex-wife from inside his prison. 'I kill her….,' Madina is accused of posting, in evidence now being examined by police. 'I know you did,' replied the pilot, who has always maintained his innocence and previously claimed that his wife accidentally killed the child on 24 October 2019, but blamed him. Madin allegedly said on the recorded call to Barakat how she broke Sophia's neck at the hotel in Almaty. 'I left…and then when I come back, she is awake and crying because she's hungry. 'I start to feed her. And then she start to poo… 'And I try to wash her bum. And when I wash her, I break her neck…' She also told him she wanted to have another child with him. In a video made by privately-schooled Barakat, he said of her 'confession': 'Two days ago, we had another argument. 'I told her I would never have another baby with her until she told me what happened to my daughter, Sophia Barakat. 10 Barakat received a maximum sentence Credit: East2West 10 The courts ruled that Madina had been beaten by her husband Credit: East2West 10 Barakat was sentenced in 2020 after a judge ruled he smashed his "smiling" baby during a drunken drug-fuelled hotel rampage Credit: East2West 'And here you can see, she wrote 'Call me please'. 'And then, she writes 'I kill her'. In later conversations, Madina repeatedly asks him to 'forgive me'. These accounts are startlingly different from the version accepted by judges at the pilot's trial and appeal. The courts ruled that Madina had been beaten by her husband - despite no evidence she had any injuries - and left their hotel room after which he killed the child. The wife then opened the door and picked up the motionless girl, rushing down to the hotel lobby, where she was seen on security cameras. Madina had shouted: 'He killed my child, he hit her,' according to one hotel staff member. Hotel workers said the baby was 'blue'. Earlier they remembered the British girl as 'always smiling' during the family's stay at the Intercontinental Hotel in Almaty. The wife collapsed several times in the lobby as staff called medics who found the baby to be dead. 10 In later conversations, Madina repeatedly asks him to 'forgive me' Credit: East2West 10 The pilot was said by the judge to be drunk and under the influence of drugs Credit: East2West 10 Mohamed Barakat, 46, is serving a 20-year sentence Credit: East2West There are a host of other inconsistencies regarding the verdict. In turning down an appeal by the pilot, three women judges in 2021 ruled that 'the guilt of the convict [Barakat] was proved by the testimony of a witness - a hotel maid - that she heard the sounds of banging on the wall, after which the crying of the child immediately fell silent'. The judges said: 'More than ten witnesses testified that they saw the woman [Madina] with the child in her arms, who ran to the reception and reported that her drunken husband had killed her child.' Yet law enforcement broke their own rules in using photographs not the corpse to establish fatal wounds. Based on these errors, the court found Sophia died from 'multiple impacts…caused by repeated blows' - namely from Barakat banging his child's head repeatedly against the walls or doors, smashing the child's brain. The pilot was said by the judge to be drunk and under the influence of drugs yet astonishingly no drugs were found in his blood or urine, according to documents in the case. The only evidence of drug use was a toxicology test showing traces of THC in vomit from the hotel mattress, yet the centre has dismissed use of such evidence as unreliable. 'CCTV shows him walking steadily into the hotel, handing balloons to his daughter, and carrying her. Hotel staff said he did not appear drunk,' said his lawyer Din-Mukhamed Narymbetov. Additionally, Madina was the main prosecution witness based on evidence she gave in the aftermath of the killing. 'Her statements were obtained with procedural violations, and she eventually retracted them,' said the lawyer. Barakat said after obtaining his ex-wife's 'confession': 'Madina knows I am innocent. My family knows I'm innocent. The lawyers who stood with me - they know I'm innocent.' He must now wait for the Kazakh authorities to decide on the next legal steps. Asked to comment, Madina Abdullayeva said: 'I am not going to answer these questions.'
The Sun
6 days ago
- The Sun
Brit pilot jailed in ex-Soviet hell prison could be freed after ex-wife's ‘chilling confession to killing baby' emerges
A BRIT pilot jailed for murder in a hellhole ex-Soviet prison could be freed after his ex-wife 'confessed' to killing their baby daughter. Mohamed Barakat, 46, is serving a 20-year sentence in a high security jail in Kazakhstan but has always maintained his innocence. 10 Bombshell recordings have now emerged of Madina Abdullayeva, 28, apparently admitting to unintentionally causing the death of her daughter Sophia. Barakat was sentenced in 2020 after a judge ruled he smashed his "smiling" baby during a drunken drug-fuelled hotel rampage, crushing her head against a wall. But the chilling audio which has been newly uncovered could mean the commercial pilot, who flew for a subsidiary of Hong Kong Airlines, could be freed or face a retrial. Madina was the main prosecution witness at his trial in Kazakhstan. Barakat received a maximum sentence under the criminal code because of the "aggravating circumstance' of committing the murder 'in a state of alcoholic and drug intoxication', said the appeal court. The country's prosecutor's office recently triggered an investigation 'on newly discovered circumstances', namely a confession by the pilot's glamorous ex-wife that she killed the baby. Detailed analysis including a 'forensic video-phonoscopy examination' reveals the confession to be Madina's voice, the pilot's legal representatives have been informed. It also found there was no tampering of the WhatsApp recording. The pilot himself recorded his ex-wife from inside his prison. 'I kill her….,' Madina is accused of posting, in evidence now being examined by police. 'I know you did,' replied the pilot, who has always maintained his innocence and previously claimed that his wife accidentally killed the child on 24 October 2019, but blamed him. Madin allegedly said on the recorded call to Barakat how she broke Sophia's neck at the hotel in Almaty. 'I left…and then when I come back, she is awake and crying because she's hungry. 'I start to feed her. And then she start to poo… 'And I try to wash her bum. And when I wash her, I break her neck…' She also told him she wanted to have another child with him. In a video made by privately-schooled Barakat, he said of her 'confession': 'Two days ago, we had another argument. 'I told her I would never have another baby with her until she told me what happened to my daughter, Sophia Barakat. 10 'And here you can see, she wrote 'Call me please'. 'And then, she writes 'I kill her'. In later conversations, Madina repeatedly asks him to 'forgive me'. These accounts are startlingly different from the version accepted by judges at the pilot's trial and appeal. The courts ruled that Madina had been beaten by her husband - despite no evidence she had any injuries - and left their hotel room after which he killed the child. The wife then opened the door and picked up the motionless girl, rushing down to the hotel lobby, where she was seen on security cameras. Madina had shouted: 'He killed my child, he hit her,' according to one hotel staff member. Hotel workers said the baby was 'blue'. Earlier they remembered the British girl as 'always smiling' during the family's stay at the Intercontinental Hotel in Almaty. The wife collapsed several times in the lobby as staff called medics who found the baby to be dead. 10 10 There are a host of other inconsistencies regarding the verdict. In turning down an appeal by the pilot, three women judges in 2021 ruled that 'the guilt of the convict [Barakat] was proved by the testimony of a witness - a hotel maid - that she heard the sounds of banging on the wall, after which the crying of the child immediately fell silent'. The judges said: 'More than ten witnesses testified that they saw the woman [Madina] with the child in her arms, who ran to the reception and reported that her drunken husband had killed her child.' Yet law enforcement broke their own rules in using photographs not the corpse to establish fatal wounds. Based on these errors, the court found Sophia died from 'multiple impacts…caused by repeated blows' - namely from Barakat banging his child's head repeatedly against the walls or doors, smashing the child's brain. The pilot was said by the judge to be drunk and under the influence of drugs yet astonishingly no drugs were found in his blood or urine, according to documents in the case. The only evidence of drug use was a toxicology test showing traces of THC in vomit from the hotel mattress, yet the centre has dismissed use of such evidence as unreliable. 'CCTV shows him walking steadily into the hotel, handing balloons to his daughter, and carrying her. Hotel staff said he did not appear drunk,' said his lawyer Din-Mukhamed Narymbetov. Additionally, Madina was the main prosecution witness based on evidence she gave in the aftermath of the killing. 'Her statements were obtained with procedural violations, and she eventually retracted them,' said the lawyer. Barakat said after obtaining his ex-wife's 'confession': 'Madina knows I am innocent. My family knows I'm innocent. The lawyers who stood with me - they know I'm innocent.'
