:00:14. > :00:20.Two air traffic controllers reportedly fall asleep, sparking
:00:21. > :00:29.questions about safety within China skies. Amid tough competition in the
:00:30. > :00:36.skies, Malaysia's Air Asia prepares to announce its first half earnings
:00:37. > :00:41.results. Thank you for joining us for this edition of Asia Business
:00:42. > :00:47.Report. I am Rico Hizon. It has been the talk of the Internet across
:00:48. > :00:52.mainland China, how plane was forced to stay in the air, unable to land
:00:53. > :00:59.because two air`traffic controllers had reportedly fallen asleep. The
:01:00. > :01:05.incident happened at Wuhan airport last month. Earlier I spoke to John
:01:06. > :01:09.'s worth to find out more. It seems extraordinary. This is not just one
:01:10. > :01:19.sleeping air`traffic control but two, asleep together at the controls
:01:20. > :01:22.in the tower at Wuhan airport. This China Eastern aircraft was said to
:01:23. > :01:28.be already beginning its final descent when it radioed the tower,
:01:29. > :01:33.received no response, tried to contact them again, twice and in
:01:34. > :01:37.which, once in Chinese. But again no reply was given. The aircraft
:01:38. > :01:43.returned to an altitude of 900 metres, and circled for around 12
:01:44. > :01:48.minutes or so, if all contact was eventually established, and it was
:01:49. > :01:53.able to land `` before contact. We know what we know about this story
:01:54. > :01:57.because of document circulating online reportedly from China's civil
:01:58. > :02:00.aviation authorities, confirming that the reason for that loss of
:02:01. > :02:04.contact and that delay was because the air`traffic controllers had
:02:05. > :02:08.fallen asleep. We have been unable to verify the authenticity of that
:02:09. > :02:16.document, but we have had it confirmed from a member of staff at
:02:17. > :02:20.the airport, that the incident did take place. Air`traffic is set to
:02:21. > :02:24.become even heavier across China's skies, because the mainland carriers
:02:25. > :02:28.continue to expand their fleets. Is there something that China's
:02:29. > :02:32.aviation group is doing at the moment to prevent this from
:02:33. > :02:36.happening again? This incident was reported to have taken place on July
:02:37. > :02:42.the 8th this year, why there has been this delay in making the
:02:43. > :02:45.incident public, we don't know. But you have to wish you and that they
:02:46. > :02:52.will be looking at what went wrong. A huge amount of incredulity and
:02:53. > :02:59.anger about it online. China's air passengers already beleaguered eye
:03:00. > :03:03.long delays, offer examples, large flight cancellations due to military
:03:04. > :03:06.manoeuvres `` by long delays. The only thing is that looking online
:03:07. > :03:10.you can find similar reports. A number in the United States over the
:03:11. > :03:15.past few years of air`traffic controllers dozing off in the tower.
:03:16. > :03:21.Never two at the same time, I have to say. Staying with aviation,
:03:22. > :03:25.Malaysia's Budget carrier Air Asia and announces it is first half
:03:26. > :03:31.profits later today. Last year than at off at was cut by half, and they
:03:32. > :03:37.still face sums if competition. At the same time, Air Asia has been
:03:38. > :03:41.busy denying rumours it plans to buy a stake in a Japanese airline. I
:03:42. > :03:44.asked our correspondent for his predictions. We will see when the
:03:45. > :03:48.figures come out today that the profit will be lower. I have been
:03:49. > :03:51.facing a tough time with a lot of competition in the south`east Asian
:03:52. > :03:56.region. That will continue for at least the next quarter. They are the
:03:57. > :04:01.leaders in the Asia region, in the Budget carrier industry. What have
:04:02. > :04:04.been the issues? The issue has been there has been a lot of expansion
:04:05. > :04:10.which has gone on in the industry. And demand has not kept up. Where it
:04:11. > :04:14.has, airlines have had to cut fares to make ends meet. So their margins
:04:15. > :04:18.will be cut, is what we expect to see, as we have seen in the
:04:19. > :04:22.full`service carriers and Budget carriers in the region. They have
:04:23. > :04:25.been cannibalising each other, but over the past years, the Budget
:04:26. > :04:29.carriers have been very profitable, eating into the market share of the
:04:30. > :04:35.national carriers. So it is likely to be the trend going forward? Could
:04:36. > :04:40.be the consolidation in this of the aviation industry? We are starting
:04:41. > :04:43.to see consolidation already. Tiger has cut off some of its
:04:44. > :04:48.subsidiaries. They are focusing on Singapore, cutting planes. We are
:04:49. > :04:51.even seeing Air Asia saying they will sell some aircraft later in the
:04:52. > :04:55.year. I fully expect to see a lot more consolidation in the region.
:04:56. > :04:59.But Air Asia has been partnering in some major markets in the region,
:05:00. > :05:04.India, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, and there are rumours of
:05:05. > :05:09.a potential buyout of Japan's carrier. Do you think this would be
:05:10. > :05:14.a wise move, even though it was denied? I don't think it would be a
:05:15. > :05:17.wise move. It would not fit well with Air Asia's model. They would
:05:18. > :05:22.prefer to build something new that they can control. Buying an
:05:23. > :05:29.expensive carrier would be a difficult proposition for them. In
:05:30. > :05:32.other news, China's telecommunications giant ZTE is
:05:33. > :05:42.expected to announce a massive jump in profits. Expectations are for the
:05:43. > :05:54.Hong Kong listed company. Struggling handset maker HTC has modified
:05:55. > :05:59.telephone, and is selling it at at least half the price of the handset
:06:00. > :06:03.running Android. It is financially supported by Microsoft, and part of
:06:04. > :06:09.the company's attempt to gain US market share. Britain's banking
:06:10. > :06:13.giant has been hit with a second huge fine by New York's top banking
:06:14. > :06:18.regulator. This time the lender has been ordered to pay a fine and will
:06:19. > :06:22.face restrictions on its dollar business. It gets three quarters of
:06:23. > :06:27.its earnings from Asia and has been accused of failing to organise
:06:28. > :06:33.adequate money laundering controls. I spoke to our correspondent and
:06:34. > :06:36.asked more about this fine. These recurring compliance problems have
:06:37. > :06:41.definitely added two problems at the bank. In fact it warned its
:06:42. > :06:46.shareholders a few weeks ago at an earnings release that another fine
:06:47. > :06:49.would be coming. Now Standard Chartered has said that it is trying
:06:50. > :06:54.to improve its compliance with the utmost urgency. But clearly not be
:06:55. > :07:01.clear enough. The US regulator, the second fine, in as many years, for
:07:02. > :07:05.failing to improve money laundering problems that were first highlighted
:07:06. > :07:11.and spotted in 2012. Part of the business that involved is actually
:07:12. > :07:15.quite crucial for the bank on a US clearing. We understand the bank was
:07:16. > :07:21.concerned that all of its US clearing activities would be halted
:07:22. > :07:25.in New York. That it would no longer be allowed to clear in New York. At
:07:26. > :07:30.the bank has clarified and said now as a result of this fine, only two
:07:31. > :07:34.geographical areas would be affected. Certain retail clients,
:07:35. > :07:42.here in Hong Kong, and some high`risk relationships in the UAE.
:07:43. > :07:45.For how long will Standard Chartered the banned from the dollar clearing
:07:46. > :07:51.business? We're not sure about that. But according to the Hong Kong
:07:52. > :07:55.monetary authority, the de facto central bank here, it appears that
:07:56. > :07:59.the suspension is temporary. In their statement, they said they
:08:00. > :08:04.believed Hong Kong was affected are close this is its biggest, basically
:08:05. > :08:10.its biggest market. A lot of deals originate from here and are settled
:08:11. > :08:15.in America. And that is why it is affected. They also said that they
:08:16. > :08:19.are watching the bank, and they have spotted some areas which could be
:08:20. > :08:25.improved, but obviously no fines or other punishments at the moment. One
:08:26. > :08:28.of India's richest man is selling off some of his most valuable
:08:29. > :08:34.investments. Nothing unusual about that, except that he needs to raise
:08:35. > :08:39.billions of dollars so he can be released from prison. Our
:08:40. > :08:44.correspondent reports from Mumbai. He is no rockstar, during good
:08:45. > :08:48.times, he could entertain his employees with performances like
:08:49. > :08:54.this. But for the last five months, this flamboyant Indian billionaire
:08:55. > :08:59.has been held in India's largest reason. Jailed after failing to
:09:00. > :09:03.appear at a court hearing into a long`running dispute with India's
:09:04. > :09:09.market regulator. He is the owner of a conglomerate called the Sahara
:09:10. > :09:13.Group. They took millions from investors in return for the legal
:09:14. > :09:18.bonds. It says it has repaid most investors, a claim disputed by the
:09:19. > :09:23.regulator and the Supreme Court. Sahara Group has stakes in more than
:09:24. > :09:29.100 companies, with interests in TV channels, real estate, are
:09:30. > :09:33.controlling stake in a Formula One team, hundreds of retail outlets,
:09:34. > :09:43.and a number of world famous hotels. The group is one of dozens of
:09:44. > :09:47.properties owned by Subrata Roy around the world. He has been
:09:48. > :09:51.ordered to pay $1.6 billion bail. But to raise that kind of money, he
:09:52. > :09:57.has to offload some of his most valuable assets. There are reports
:09:58. > :10:03.that the Sultan of Brunei is keen on snapping up a couple of his New York
:10:04. > :10:07.Robert Hughes, including this, the iconic Plaza Hotel. He has denied
:10:08. > :10:12.it. And he is looking for a buyer for the Grosvenor house Hotel in
:10:13. > :10:17.London's Park Lane. If he manages to do those deals from his prison cell,
:10:18. > :10:24.he will be allowed to go home. But of course, the charges themselves
:10:25. > :10:33.will still be hanging over him. Thank you for investing your time
:10:34. > :10:40.with us. I am Rico Hizon, goodbye for now. The top stories this hour:
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