Garuda to open direct service to Shanghai
Garuda to open direct service to Shanghai
SHANGHAI: Garuda Indonesia plans to open a direct service from Jakarta to Shanghai, China, in the near future, a spokesman said.
The plan was made after it was noticed the numbers of passengers on a Garuda service between Jakarta and Guang Zhou opened last November were increasing, Garuda President Director Indra Setiawan said here Tuesday.
"For the time being Garuda will only increase the frequency of its flights from Jakarta to Shanghai from twice to three times a week," he said after a reception to promote the Jakarta-Shanghai service.
Garuda earlier opened a direct service from Jakarta to Guang Zhou at a flight frequency of three times a week.
"With the rate of passengers reaching 50 percent a year from especially Shanghai to Indonesia Garuda wishes to open a direct service on the route," he said.
He said Garuda would connect the Shanghai-Jakarta service to cities at home such as Semarang, Yogyakarta, Surabaya, Batam and Pekanbaru.
Shanghai would be the third city in China to be served by Garuda after Hong Kong and Guang Zhou. -- Antara
Changi Airport hits record in 2002
SINGAPORE: Singapore's Changi Airport handled a record 29 million passengers in 2002, 3.2 percent more than in 2001, after a revival of public confidence in the aviation industry, officials said Wednesday.
"This is an all-time high in Changi Airport's history, surpassing the previous high of 28.6 million passengers achieved in 2000," said a Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) statement.
Airfreight movements grew 8.7 percent from the year before to 1.64 million tons in 2002.
The statement said the result was almost similar to the level before the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks in the United States of 1.68 million tons in 2000.
"Public confidence in flying is returning," Albert Tjoeng, a spokesman for the CAAS, told AFP.
However, aircraft movements in Changi declined 2.5 percent from 179,359 in 2001 to 174,820 in 2002.
Changi Airport handled 28.1 million passengers and 1.5 million tons of airfreight in 2001. -- AFP
SingTel manages Toyota's network
SINGAPORE: Toyota has selected Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) to manage the Japanese automaker's communications network in the Asia-Pacific region, the carrier said Wednesday.
It will provide, manage and support Toyota Motor Corp.'s telecoms network across the region using an Internet Protocol- Virtual Private Networks (VPN), SingTel said in a statement.
A VPN network allows communications to take place in real time across multiple locations.
"SingTel is proud to be selected by Toyota," said Chong Chin Kok, chief executive of SingTel Global Offices.
"This is an endorsement from a world class manufacturer of SingTel's reliability and capabilities, not just in our traditional hub of Singapore but also in Japan and across the Asia Pacific."
SingTel said revenues from the corporate sector in regional markets would play an increasingly important role as the carrier seeks to reduce reliance on the domestic market, where it is facing increasing competition. -- AFP
Judge files order against Microsoft
BALTIMORE: A federal judge formally issued an order Tuesday requiring Microsoft Corp. to release an updated version of Sun Microsystems' Java programming language for Windows.
U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz, who decided in December to issue an injunction against Microsoft, delayed the order's effective date for two weeks so Microsoft can appeal.
Microsoft will have to put the latest Java on Windows XP and other products that incorporate the company's .Net framework, which like Java allows software to work on different systems.
"This preliminary injunction is a huge victory for consumers who will soon have the best, latest Java technology on their PCs," said Lee Patch, a Sun vice president.
Microsoft spokesman Jim Desler said the company will comply while pursuing an appeal.
The order makes Sun responsible for supporting its software carried on Windows, and Microsoft can request information and engineering assistance needed to comply. -- AFP
Ericsson to inject capital into JV
STOCKHOLM: Swedish telecoms giant Ericsson is to inject one billion to two billion kronor (US$116-232 million) working capital into Sony Ericsson, its loss-making mobile phone handset joint venture, Swedish financial daily Dagens Industri reported Thursday.
The paper said it expected the announcement to be made either before or in conjunction with the two companies' annual results. Sony reports on Jan. 27, and Ericsson on Feb. 3.
Ericsson officials confirmed that a capital injection was underway sometime this year.
"But we can't comment on the amount," spokesman Mads Madsen said.
Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications Ltd., a 50-50 alliance that was established on Oct. 1, 2001, lost $110 million in the July-September quarter.
The joint venture, which combined the mobile phone making operations of both parents, sold five million phones in the quarter, generating sales of $8.2 billion, not enough to be profitable. -- AFP