20/08/2014 Asia Business Report

results. Thank you for joining us for this

edition of Asia Business Report. I am Rico Hizon.

It has been the talk of the Internet across mainland China, how plane was

forced to stay in the air, unable to land because two air`traffic

controllers had reportedly fallen asleep. The incident happened at

Wuhan Airport last month. Details have only just come to light and

have led many to question the safety of China's skies. Earlier I spoke to

John Sudworth to find out more. It seems extraordinary. This is not

just one sleeping air`traffic controller but two, asleep together

at the controls in the tower at Wuhan airport. This China Eastern

aircraft was said to be already beginning its final descent, when it

radioed the tower, received no response, tried to contact them

again, twice in English, once in Chinese. But again, no reply was

given. The aircraft returned to an altitude of 900 metres, and circled

for around 12 minutes or so, before contact was eventually established,

and it was able to land. We know what we know about this story

because of document circulating online, reportedly from China's

civil aviation authorities, confirming that the reason for that

loss of contact and that delay was because the air`traffic controllers

had fallen asleep. We have been unable to verify the authenticity of

that document, but we have had it confirmed from a member of staff at

the airport, that the incident did take place. Air traffic is set to

become even heavier across China's skies, because the mainland carriers

continue to expand their fleets. Is there something that China's

aviation group is doing at the moment to prevent this from

happening again? This incident was reported to have taken place on July

the 8th this year. Why there has been this delay in making the

incident public, we don't know. But you have to assume that they will be

looking at what went wrong. A huge amount of incredulity and anger

about it online. China's air passengers already beleaguered by

long delays, for example, large flight cancellations due to military

manoeuvres. The only thing is that looking online you can find similar

reports. A number in the United States, over the past few years, of

air`traffic controllers dozing off in the tower. Never two at the same

time, I have to say. That was John Syed Wurf in Shanghai.

`` Sudworth. Staying with aviation,

Malaysia's Budget carrier Air Asia and announces it is first half

profits later today. Last year than at off at was cut by half, and they

still face sums if competition. At the same time, Air Asia has been

busy denying rumours it plans to buy a stake in a Japanese airline. I

asked our correspondent for his predictions. We will see when the

figures come out today that the profit will be lower. They have been

facing a tough time, with a lot of competition in the south`east Asian

region. That will continue for at least the next quarter. They are the

leaders in the Asia region, in the budget carrier industry. What have

been the issues? The issue has been there has been a lot of expansion

which has gone on in the industry. And demand has not kept up. Where it

has, airlines have had to cut fares to make ends meet. So their margins

will be cut, is what we expect to see, as we have seen in the

full`service carriers and budget carriers in the region. They have

been cannibalising each other, but over the past years, the budget

carriers have been very profitable, eating into the market share of the

national carriers. So it is likely to be the trend going forward? Could

we see consolidation in the aviation industry? We are starting to see

consolidation already. Tiger has cut off some of its subsidiaries. They

are focusing on Singapore, cutting planes. We are even seeing Air Asia

saying they will sell some aircraft later in the year. I fully expect to

see a lot more consolidation in the region. But Air Asia has been

partnering in some major markets in the region, India, Thailand, the

Philippines, Indonesia, and there are rumours of a potential buyout of

Japan's carrier. Do you think this would be a wise move, even though it

was denied? I don't think it would be a wise move. It would not fit

well with Air Asia's model. They would prefer to build something new

that they can control. Buying an existing carrier would be a

difficult proposition for them. ?WHITE In other news, China's

telecommunications giant ZTE is expected to announce a massive jump

in profits. Expectations are for the Hong Kong listed company. Struggling

handset maker HTC has modified telephone, and is selling it at at

least half the price of the handset running Android. It is financially

supported by Microsoft, and part of the company's attempt to gain US

market share. Standard Chartered has been fined 300 million dollars by

the banking regulator, saying the bank failed to improve money

laundering problems highlighted in 2012 when it had to take a

multimillion dollar fine. With operations in New York, Standard

Chartered forced under the supervision of the Department of

financial services. This is the second penalty the bank has paid to

the main New York state regulator. Both are related to trade with

countries blacklisted either US. The British bank said it was working to

fix these problems with the utmost urgency, in addition to improving

compliance. As part of a settlement in 2012, a monitor was appointed to

watch over its dealings. That surveillance uncovered failings to

identify risky transactions that could be part of money`laundering.

On top of that, the lender has been ordered to suspend or excerpts its

business with risky client in Hong Kong and it cannot accept new

clearing accounts in US dollars without the regulator's approval.

The penalty is yet more bad news for chief executive Peter Sandys and for

Standard Chartered, which reported a 20% drop in profits.

The British bank might be in trouble, but it gets three quarters

of earnings in Asia. The ban on these accounts will affect business

in Hong Kong, one of its largest market. I asked our correspondent

for more. According to the Hong Kong monetary policy, it appears that the

suspension is temporary. They said they believed Hong Kong was affected

because this is its biggest market and a lot of deals originate from

here and are then settled in America, which is why it was

affected. The sad fate or watching the bank `` they said they are also.

They said some areas can be improved. No phones or punishment at

the moment. One of India's richest man is

selling off some of his most valuable investments. Nothing

unusual about that, except that he needs to raise billions of dollars

so he can be released from prison. Our correspondent reports from

Mumbai. He is no rockstar, but during good

times, Subrata Roy could entertain his employees with performances like

this. But for the last five months, this flamboyant Indian billionaire

has been held in India's largest prison, jailed after failing to

appear at a court hearing into a long`running dispute with India's

market regulator. He is the owner of a conglomerate called the Sahara

Group. They took millions from investors in return for the legal

bonds. `` billions. It says it has repaid most investors, a claim

disputed by the regulator and the Supreme Court. Sahara Group has

stakes in more than 100 companies, with interests in TV channels, real

estate, a controlling stake in a Formula One team, hundreds of retail

outlets, and a number of world`famous hotels. The Group is

one of dozens of properties owned by Subrata Roy around the world. He has

been ordered to pay $1.6 billion bail. But to raise that kind of

money, he has to offload some of his most valuable assets. There are

reports that the Sultan of Brunei is keen on snapping up a couple of his

New York properties, including this, the iconic Plaza Hotel. He has

denied it. And he is looking for a buyer for the Grosvenor House Hotel

in London's Park Lane. If he manages to do those deals from his prison

cell, he will be allowed to go home. But of course, the charges

themselves will still be hanging over him.

With that, we end this programme. Thank you for investing your time

with us on Asia Business Report. Before we go, don't fall get to

watch us on Twitter. Thank you some at. Goodbye for now. I am Rico

Hizon. I am Mike Embley in London with the

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