Indonesia’s anti-corruption agency detained Emirsyah Satar, the former head of Garuda Indonesia, as part of a long-running probe into suspected corruption involving the procurement of aircraft and engines. Satar is suspected of money laundering and will be held for 20 days, the agency said in a statement. It also detained an Indonesian businessman for the same suspected violation. Satar was given cash and other gifts by the man, who received commissions from manufacturers, the agency alleged. While acknowledging that he received money, Satar denies any money-laundering allegations as he thought the funds were merely a form of gratitude, his lawyer Luhut Pangaribuan said. “After the investigation started, he realized that as a state employee he should not have received anything, so he returned the money,” Pangaribuan said in a text message. The probe relates to Garuda’s procurement of Airbus SE A330 and A320 jets, ATR 72-600 turboprops, Bombardier CRJ 1000 regional aircraft and Rolls-Royce Holdings engines when Satar led the state-owned airline, according to the anti-corruption agency. The organization is known in Indonesia as KPK, short for Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi. Satar has been credited by analysts for helping to revive the carrier when he was CEO and president director from 2005 through 2014.<br/>
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Air France KLM SA said Thursday it carried around 10m passengers last month, up 1.8% from a year ago, boosted by a rise in numbers on its north American networks. The French carrier's passenger load factor - an industry metric that measures how full are an airline's planes - also rose to 90.7% in July from 90.2% last year. Last month, Air France-KLM posted a 16% rise in its second-quarter operating profits as new CE Ben Smith's cost-cutting programme helped offset the impact of rising fuel prices.<br/>