Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire
Monday, February 16, 1998
Honolulu Airport ranks high among passengers
Honolulu Airport was rated the 11th best airport in the nation, according to a survey of passengers.The study rated the 36 top airports in such categories as attractiveness, speed of baggage delivery, ease of reaching gates, cleanliness, parking and the quality of restaurants.
The nation best airport is in Tampa, Fla., according to the survey by Los Angeles-based Plog Research, commissioned by the 36 airports at their expense.
The worst was Detroit Metropolitan Airport. The research firm surveyed about 90,000 travelers in the first half of 1997.
Rounding out the top three were the airports in Pittsburgh and Charlotte, N.C., while the second and third worst airports were John F. Kennedy in New York and Logan in Boston, according to the survey, which was released today.
Continental gets OK for U.S.-Tokyo flights
HOUSTON -- Continental Airlines Inc. said it has received approval from the Transportation Department to fly to Tokyo from its Newark, N.J., and Houston hubs.Continental, the nation's fifth largest airline, said in a statement it will initially offer daily nonstop service at its Newark hub beginning in November.
Through a subsequent case before the department, the carrier expects to receive approval for more flights, allowing it to begin daily nonstop service to Tokyo from Houston in December.
Japan bankruptcies soared 24.8% in Jan.
TOKYO -- Battered by a painful economic slowdown, more Japanese companies went bankrupt in January than in any month since World War II, a credit research agency said today.The number of insolvencies skyrocketed 24.8 percent to 1,502 in January compared with the same month last year, but debts left behind dropped 4.6 percent to 684.9 billion yen, or $5.5 billion, Teikoku Databank Ltd. said. The Japanese government has declared the economy stagnant, and financial institutions are suffering under mounting debts. The number of bankruptcies in 1997 reached an 11-year high.