BUSINESS BRIEFS
Middle Eastern carriers spend $40B on 140 jets
Associated Press
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Gulf carriers ordered 140 jets for nearly $40 billion from Airbus and Boeing Co. yesterday, the opening day of the Dubai Airshow, in a boost for the global airline industry and a sign of the Middle Eastern airlines' rapid expansion.
With their economies booming in the wake of soaring energy prices, the oil rich states, in particular the United Arab Emirates, have been plowing money into airline expansion programs that are a boon for the aircraft manufacturers.
"These purchases are fundamentally important for Airbus and Boeing," said John Strickland of JLS Consulting, a London-based aviation consultancy firm. He said the Middle East "aviation giants" — Dubai-based Emirates, Qatar Airways and Abu Dhabi-based Etihad — are key customers of both plane makers. "These big orders are very important because they will not come in this size from Europe or the U.S. any time soon," he said.
AUTO INSURANCE FIRM COVERS PETS
CLEVELAND — To a dog that loves drives in the car while sticking a head out a window to feel the wind, insurance isn't a concern.
An auto insurance company is now offering their owners a benefit for pets.
Progressive Corp., based in Ohio, is providing collision coverage for customers' dogs or cats at no additional premium cost. It will pay up to $500 if a customer's dog or cat is hurt or dies in a car accident.
"It's an unusual and interesting benefit," said Jean Salvatore, a senior vice president for the New York-based Insurance Information Institute. She was not aware of any other company offering a collision benefit for pets.
There are more than 150 million pets in the U.S., and Americans spend more than $40 billion on their pets annually, according to a recent Insurance Information Institute study.
The Progressive benefit has been in place since Sept. 6; it's still too soon to determine if the company's undetermined cost of offering it will be offset by better sales, a Progressive spokeswoman said.
HYUNDAI PLANS PLANT IN RUSSIA
SEOUL, South Korea — Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's largest automaker, said it will build an auto manufacturing plant in Russia to help meet surging demand for vehicles.
The plant will have annual capacity to build 100,000 units, Seoul-based Hyundai Motor said in a statement yesterday. Chairman Chung Mong-koo revealed the plan when he met Russian government officials on Nov. 9 during his trip to Russia, the statement said. Hyundai didn't disclose other details including the cost, location or timing of the plant construction.
Hyundai Motor operates overseas factories in China, India, Turkey and the U.S. and is building one in the Czech Republic.
DISNEY CELL PHONES COMING TO JAPAN
TOKYO — Walt Disney Co. will partner with Softbank Corp. to offer cell phone service in Japan next spring with Disney-branded phones and animated content, The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday, citing an anonymous source.
Disney will lease network bandwidth from Japan's third-largest mobile operator and sell its phones and service through Softbank's stores nationwide, the newspaper said on its Web site.
GREYHOUND LINES FRESHENS ITS IMAGE
DALLAS — The old dog is getting a new look. Greyhound Lines Inc. says it has spent $60 million over the past three years to freshen up its fleet of 1,250 buses and its largest terminals.
Next, the company plans an advertising campaign designed to bring back former customers and attract new riders between 18 and 24, and Hispanics.
Greyhound officials say the makeover is part of an upgrade that began in 2004, when the company eliminated many small-town stops and routes to speed service between larger cities.
Patty Herbeck, Greyhound's director of marketing, said the company has refurbished more than 900 buses with new seats and paint jobs and spruced up 125 of its roughly 940 terminals by repainting, renovating restrooms and adding plasma-screen televisions in waiting areas.
