Both Qantas and Virgin have said they are willing to take part in an international meeting to discuss the MH17 crash and to potentially rethink protocols when dealing with global troubled hot spots.
The Australian airlines have been in contact with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) regarding the meeting after it was suggested by Emirates president Tim Clark, who also predicted local regulators might get more involved in decisions about where airlines flew.
Tim Clark told Reuters the international airline community needs to respond as an entity, saying this is absolutely not acceptable and outrageous, and that it “won’t tolerate being targeted in internecine regional conflicts that have nothing to do with airlines.”
While Virgin’s long-haul operations to Los Angeles and Abu Dhabi do not overfly any affected hot spots, its alliance carriers in which Virgin hand their passengers over to do.
Qantas does fly a route over Iraq on its way to and from London and also provides passengers to Emirates and fellow members of the global oneworld alliance.
Tim Clark said he believes the MH17 attack would require new protocols through IATA or the UN-backed International Civil Aviation Organisation, but rejected suggestions that commercial aircraft should be equipped with antimissile devices.
