Oracle launches new product
JAKARTA: PT Oracle Indonesia started on Wednesday a marketing campaign for its latest data-based collaboration software product, which is expected to challenge the products made by IBM and Microsoft, the leading industry players here.
Oracle vice president Christopher Hummel said in a press conference that the company's 400 corporate clients would be the main market target for the new software product.
He declined to disclose the sales target.
The product, called Oracle Collaboration Suite, enables an integration of e-mail, voicemail, file system support, calendar, real-time conferencing capabilities and workflow. --JP
;JP;ZPH; ANPAf..r.. Corporatebrief-HK-airport-rates HK airport seen to cut rates JP/14/brief1
HK airport seen to cut rates
SINGAPORE: The Hong Kong Airport Authority may follow Taiwan and Singapore in reducing costs to help airlines weather the devastating fallout from the SARS outbreak, a regional airline grouping said on Wednesday.
The Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) has singled out the Hong Kong airport operator for keeping landing and other fees unchanged despite heavy losses by the region's carriers as people cancel travel plans for fear of catching the sometimes fatal SARS virus.
"From contacts we have had with the Hong Kong Airport Authority, we are reasonably confident that they will follow the example of others and offer the same concessions to the airlines," said AAPA director-general Richard Stirland.
Following an appeal by AAPA, which groups 17 regional airlines, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore announced a 30 percent rebate on aircraft landing fees for carriers using Changi Airport and the smaller Seletar Airport from May 1 to December 31.
Taiwan on April 15 also announced cuts in fees and rents for airlines. -- AFP
;JP;ZPH; ANPAf..r.. Corporatebrief-Thailand-airports Airports of Thailand plans listing JP/14/brief1
Airports of Thailand plans listing
BANGKOK: Thailand's main airport operator plans to launch its initial public offering (IPO) by the third quarter of this year, a report said on Wednesday.
Airports of Thailand (AOT) managing director Bancha Pattanaporn told the Business Day newspaper that market conditions were expected to return to normalcy by then.
"We would like to push on with the plan as war in Iraq is likely to end soon, and as the deadly SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) outbreak subsides," Bancha was quoted as saying.
The company, formerly the Airport Authority of Thailand, would use the IPO proceeds to finance construction of the country's new Suvarnabhumi International Airport, which is scheduled to open in 2005, Bancha added.
The AOT postponed its share offering in October last year, a month before it was due to list, because of weak market conditions.
The company controls the airports of Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Hat Yai, Phuket and Chiang Rai, all of which serve international flights. -- AFP
;JP;ZPH; ANPAf..r.. Corporatebrief-SIA-Airbus SIA to retire Airbus fleet JP/14/brief1
SIA to retire Airbus fleet
SINGAPORE: Singapore Airlines will retire its fleet of Airbus aircraft earlier than planned, reflecting the flight capacity cuts being implemented amid the SARS health scare, the carrier said on Wednesday.
SIA stopped using A340-300s last week and will retire its remaining nine Airbus aircraft by June, said a statement from the company, which has 12 Airbus aircraft in its fleet.
"With the revision of the flight schedules, we stopped flying the three A340-300 left in the fleet with effect from 15 April, 2003," SIA said.
"The remaining nine A310-300s will be phased out by June, five months earlier than originally planned. This is in line with our earlier announcements about capacity cuts and rescaling of operations," it said.
SIA, along with other major carriers in Asia including Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific and Australia's Qantas, has been severely affected by the health scare spawned by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak. -- AFP