Qantas Airways is likely to take a more conservative approach to the prospect of returning cash to shareholders alongside its annual results in August because of a weaker domestic market, analysts say. The airline said Monday it would pull back on planned capacity additions in the second half of the financial year as a result of soft demand attributed to the upcoming federal election and recent drop in consumer confidence. "It is not unusual to see businesses pull back travel levels prior to an election," Bell Potter analyst John O'Shea said. "Obviously the consumer confidence is a reflection of how they are feeling about things and a reflection of property and equity markets. The property market, there has been some uncertainty there and the equity market has been volatile this year." <br/>
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Malaysia Airlines' CE Christoph Mueller will leave the airline in September, well before the end of his 3-year contract. The airline said Mueller was leaving because of "his changing personal circumstances". Mueller will serve a 6-month notice period to Sept 2016 and has expressed his intention to the MAB board to remain as a non-executive director, the carrier said. MAB has begun a search for a new CE and is considering both internal and external candidates, it said. Mueller formally took charge in May last year to lead restructuring efforts at the airline. Malaysia state investor Khazanah took MAS private in 2014 as part of a MYR6b restructuring aimed at returning the carrier to profit within 3 years. <br/>
Two pieces of plane debris found on the coast of Mozambique are "almost certainly" from missing Malaysia Airlines flight 370, investigators have said. The two pieces of wreckage, one found Dec 27, 2015 and the other found 135 miles away February this year, were confirmed to have come from the missing plane after a long investigation from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB). An ATSB report said: "Part No. 1 was a flap track fairing segment, almost certainly from the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 aircraft, registered 9M-MRO." Investigators were similarly sure the second part was a "horizontal stabiliser panel segment" from the missing plane. Two more pieces of debris, including a suspected engine part and piece of cabin, have arrived in Canberra for further testing. <br/>