---

[ FAST FACTS HAWAII ]

---

BACK TO TOP
|

D. Otani breaks ground for Kapalama offices

D. Otani Produce Inc. broke ground yesterday on a $5 million project in Kapalama to build new facilities and offices on property leased by the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.

D. Otani outbid other applicants for leasing rights to the property and will pay $7.4 million for an initial 25 years of a 65-year lease.

The project will include a two-story warehouse/office building on 1.57 acres of industrial, commercial and mixed-use land at 1305 Hart St. Construction is to be completed by March 2006.

Checking in luggage from home

A company that picks up luggage before flights from a customer's location will now carry luggage for Aloha Airlines departures from Honolulu and Kahului, Maui.

BaggageDirect has mobile skycaps that can pick up luggage from a hotel, home or business and issue claim checks and boarding passes. Customers then only need to show up at the airport. Aloha Air customers can contact BaggageDirect at 800 959-4424 or visit www.baggagedirect.com.

Japanese cancel trips to China

TOKYO » Japanese officials fretted today about a plunge in travel to China, as tourists cancelled trips in droves, amid growing fears about the economic fallout from the worst diplomatic row between Tokyo and Beijing in decades.

Analysts said Japanese companies, many of which are counting on China's booming economy to drive profits, weren't taking the anti-Japan sentiment and unrest seriously enough -- a concern investors appeared to share.

The benchmark Nikkei Stock Average plunged 3.8 percent yesterday to end at its lowest point since Dec. 16, although share prices rebounded today on bargain-hunting. Some of the most noticeable declines the previous day were in companies with business in or tied to Chinese and U.S. markets.

"Some damage to tourism cannot be avoided," Transport Minister Kazuo Kitagawa said at a televised news conference. "Both sides should make efforts to resolve the current situation."

Major Japanese airlines have been deluged with cancellations. Japan Airlines said 5,500 travelers booked for travel to China in April and May had canceled so far, spokesman Kenichi Ando said. All Nippon Airways Co. said 12,000 passengers, or 10 percent of travelers in April from Japan to China, were expected to cancel because of the worries about the protests. The airline was not giving an estimate of the value of the lost business, spokeswoman Nana Kon said.