Daiei seeks exit from money-losing ventures

Kobe, Japan >> Daiei Inc., Japan's No. 2 retailer, said it is trying to end its involvement in supermarket operations in Dalian, China, as part of its plans to withdraw from money-losing activities.

Daiei has jointly operated three supermarkets in Dalian since 1997 through Dalian Daiei Supermarket, a joint venture with Mitsubishi Corp. and a Chinese company. The retailer last week started negotiating with banks and working on a new three-year restructuring plan to reduce its &YEN2.3 trillion ($17.5 billion) debt and close unprofitable businesses.

Meanwhile, Daiei spokeswoman Kikue Inoue denied a newspaper report that it plans to sell four supermarkets in Hawaii run by Daiei (U.S.A.) Inc. in its fiscal year starting March 1 and liquidate its real estate management unit, Daiei Hawaii Investment.

JAL to add flights to Asia, extend Hawaii cuts

Tokyo >> Japan Airlines Co., Asia's largest carrier, said it plans to add flights to destinations in China and the rest of the Asian region from April to make up for a drop in demand on transpacific routes.

Japan Airlines' new flights include routes between Tokyo and South Korean cities, Shanghai and Hanoi. Some of the extra flights will take advantage of a 20 percent increase in landing slots allocated to the carrier at Tokyo's Narita airport when a new runway opens in April.

Japan Airlines and rival All Nippon Airways Co. want to add new flights within Asia, as they expect the region's growth in air travel to outstrip gains in passenger numbers in other regions. The carrier also said it is extending some flight cuts to U.S. destinations by another month to the end of March in a bid to match operations more closely to demand. The Japanese carrier will fly 21 times a week from airports in Japan to Honolulu until the end of March, compared with 37 originally planned for the month.

In other travel news, Air New Zealand is cutting two weekly flights to Honolulu as part of usual changes for the southern hemisphere's winter and reduced travel demand, the airline said yesterday. Air New Zealand will reduce Honolulu flights to two a week from four, beginning in March.