German and Swiss authorities have carried out raids seizing documents after learning a German private detective had investigated the MH17 air disaster, Dutch officials and media said Tuesday. Among the objects seized during last week's raids were "apparently explosive papers" which Dutch investigators hope may narrow down the search for those behind the 2014 tragedy, said the daily De Telegraaf. All 298 passengers and crew died when Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was hit by a Russian-made BUK anti-aircraft missile while flying over war-torn eastern Ukraine on Jul 17, 2014. The Boeing 777 was en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. "It's possible that the suspected culprits behind the firing on MH17 may have been in contact with" the detective's office, de Telegraaf said, citing what it said was the Netherlands' request to Swiss authorities for help. According to the Dutch paper, the private detective was paid some E17m by a rich donor to investigate the causes of the crash. Identified only as Josef R., the detective began his inquiries two months after the disaster, having been initially promised a fee of some E30m. "We are hoping to get some information about this. That's why the raids at his home were carried out," said the spokesman for the prosecution service, Wim De Bruin. After the private eye's home in Bad Schwartau in northern Germany was searched, a safe deposit box in a bank in Zurich, Switzerland, was also emptied and its contents seized. "We don't actually know what was in the box. The Swiss judge must now decide if its contents can be handed over to Dutch officials," de Bruin added. The news comes after Dutch investigators on Monday released an update on their inquiry to the families of the victims. It included pictures of fragments of the BUK missile found at the crash site.<br/>
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Malaysia Airlines CEO Christoph Mueller, midway through a six-month notice period following his surprise resignation in April, said the company should resist unwinding a turnaround strategy that’s cut 6,000 jobs and reduced capacity by almost a third. The Asian carrier is ahead of schedule with its restructuring, having reached break even recently, putting it on course for a full-year profit in 2018 as targeted, if not earlier, said Mueller, who leaves in September. “If I had one wish it would be for the implementation of the plan as outlined,” the 54-year-old executive said. “No change in strategy, no hesitation over whether it should really be that system.” Mueller was hired in March 2015 after Malaysia Air’s reputation and sales were hit by two fatal crashes the previous year, one involving a plane that disappeared over the Indian Ocean, the other a missile strike on a jet flying above a Ukrainian war zone. In the period since, he has directed it away from global markets and toward the Asia-Pacific, seeking to establish Kuala Lumpur as a hub for the region rather than a staging post for travel from Europe. The “tough decisions” of job and route cuts, the retirement of the Boeing 777-200 fleet and the renegotiation of aircraft lease rates have all been taken, leaving the overhaul of internal processes such as revenue accounting as the most pressing issue, Mueller said. The executive said such changes can often be among the toughest to implement, as the level of disruption caused can lead companies to dilute their original plans.<br/>
Angry customers bombarded Cathay Pacific Airways with complaints as the firm tried to fix a major online booking problem that lasted almost a whole day. Customers could not book flights through the airline’s website or mobile app from Monday afternoon. Cathay Pacific said the site was under maintenance, but the length of downtime suggested a more serious technical problem. As of 1pm on Tuesday, the booking system returned to normal, and by 4pm, the promotional “fanfares” were accessible. The airline, Hong Kong’s flag carrier, posted several messages on its website explaining the situation, including: “We’re experiencing technical difficulties. Our engineers are working hard to get the site back online. Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience caused.” One of the travel alerts on the airline’s website warned customers its online booking system was offline for maintenance and would be “unavailable for the next few hours".<br/>
Qantas Airways, which could complete a A$500m on-market buyback by the end of this week, looks increasingly likely to return more cash to shareholders with its full-year results in August despite its recent warning of tougher market conditions. By the close of trading on Tuesday, Qantas had purchased $485.26m worth of shares as part of a buyback program launched alongside its half-year results in February. On Tuesday, it purchased $6.88m of shares, and if that pace continues, the buyback would be finished by Friday. Qantas has paid an average of $3.49 a share, which is higher than Tuesday's closing price of $2.93. Qantas shares had reached $4.16 on April 4 but later plunged after a warning on April 18 that domestic and international market conditions were proving tougher than expected. Brokers slashed their consensus forecasts for the airline's full-year earnings by 9% in the wake of the update, with many warning it would probably take a more conservative approach to capital management. Brokers expect Qantas will report an underlying pretax profit of a record $1.6b. But Qantas last week said its decision to cut capacity in the domestic market – a move also being taken by rival Virgin Australia – had helped lead to a rebound in airfares. Macquarie Equities said concerns from investors about Qantas continuing to increase international capacity despite the cut to domestic capacity were overdone.<br/>