Jakarta, Mar 23 (AP/UNB)— In a blow for Boeing, Indonesia's flag carrier is seeking the cancellation of a multibillion dollar order for 49 of the manufacturer's 737 Max 8 jets, citing a loss of confidence after two crashes within five months.

It is the first announcement of a cancellation since Boeing's new model aircraft were grounded following fatal crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia.

PT Garuda Indonesia, which had ordered 50 Max 8 jets in 2014 and had received just one plane last year, sent a letter to Boeing last week requesting to cancel the order worth $4.9 billion, company spokesman Ikhsan Rosan said Friday. The carrier has so far paid Boeing about $26 million for the order.

Garuda joined other airlines worldwide in grounding its one Max 8 jet after the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines flight this month which killed all 157 people aboard. It came less than five months after 189 people died in the Oct. 29 crash of another Max 8, operated by Indonesian private carrier Lion Air.

"Passengers always ask what type of plane they will fly as they have lost trust and confidence in the Max 8 jet," Rosan told The Associated Press. "This would harm our business."

He said that Garuda plans to meet with Boeing representatives next week in Jakarta to discuss details of canceling the order.

"We don't want to use Max jets ... but maybe will consider switching it with another Boeing model of plane," Rosan said. He said Indonesian passengers are afraid to take flights using any Max model, whether it's the 8, 9 or 10 series.

A preliminary report from Indonesia's National Transportation Safety Committee in December stopped short of declaring a probable cause of the Oct. 29 crash.

Officials have provided scant details since then, saying they are still analyzing data from a cockpit voice recorder that was only recovered from the sea in January.

Meanwhile, in Europe, Polish national carrier PLL LOT said it was considering asking for financial compensation from Boeing or even a delay to deliveries of purchased 737 Max 8 aircraft after the planes were grounded globally following the crash in Ethiopia.

In a statement to the AP on Friday, LOT said it would wait for communications from Boeing and flight regulators on whether to put the Max 8 planes back into service. LOT has five 737 Max 8 planes and is to receive nine more this year. Its total fleet counts over 80 aircraft.

Another Polish carrier, charter airline EnterAir, said Friday it would also seek damages. It has two Max 8 planes and has placed orders for another four.

Earlier this month, Norwegian Air Shuttles said it would seek compensation from Boeing. It had grounded its 18 Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft.

With Boeing's backlog of 4,600 unfilled orders for Max jets, the loss of the Garuda order figures to have little financial impact on the Chicago-based company. The danger is that other airlines could follow, particularly if investigators fault the plane for the accidents in Indonesia and Ethiopia.

"We think other cancellations may follow as global customers remain spooked after two crashes with seemingly similar causes," Jim Corridore, an airline analyst with CFRA Research, said in a note to clients.

Corridore said, however, that if Boeing delivers a software patch to a flight-control system suspected in the crashes, and the planes are allowed to resume flying, "most customers will be reassured." He said investors will eventually focus on strong demand for airliners.

The Wall Street Journal reported late Friday that federal investigators are looking into whether Boeing gave U.S. regulators and the company's customers incomplete or misleading information about the jets. The report cited people familiar with the matter who were not named.

Earlier this week, a person briefed on the matter told The Associated Press that U.S. prosecutors are looking into the development of the 737 Max jets. The Transportation Department's inspector general is also investigating the FAA's approval of jets, a U.S. official told AP.

Boeing Co. shares closed Friday down $10.53, or 2.8 percent, at $362.17 amid a broad stock market decline. Boeing shares have dropped 14 percent since the Ethiopia Airlines crash.

Dhaka, Mar 20 (UNB) – Bangladesh’s leading private airlines US-Bangla Airlines is going to launch its maiden flights to India’s Chennai on March 31.

It will be the airline’s first flight to a south India city, US-Bangla CEO Imran Ashif announced this at a press briefing held at a city hotel on Wednesday. 

Initially three flights will fly from Dhaka to Chennai via Chattogram on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday and will return on the same day. The flight will leave Dhaka at 9:10am and reach Chennai at 12:45pm. The departure from Chattogram will be at 10:45am.

The flight will leave Chennai at 1:30pm and reach Dhaka at 6:00pm. The arrival in Chattogram will be at 4:30pm (Bangladesh standard time).

The minimum one-way fare is set for TK 15,043 and return fare Tk 22,000 for Dhaka Chennai route. On the other hand minimum one-way fare Tk 16,045 and return fare Tk 25,000 on Chattogram-Chennai route. The fares include all taxes and surcharges.

The Boeing 737-800 flight which will fly to Chennai has 164 seats — eight in business class and 156 in economy.
 

Tokyo, Mar 19 (AP/UNB) — Asian shares were mixed in muted trading Tuesday as investors awaited the U.S. Federal Reserve meeting later in the week.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 lost 0.3 percent to 21,528.23 in early trading. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 edged down 0.1 percent to 6,182.10. South Korea's Kospi inched down less than 0.1 percent to 2,178.91. Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose nearly 0.1 percent to 29,429.99, while the Shanghai Composite gained 0.3 percent to 3,104.89.

U.S. stock indexes finished modestly higher Monday, extending the market's solid gains from a rally last week.

The S&P 500 gained 10.46 points, or 0.4 percent, to 2,832.94. The benchmark index is now up 13 percent for 2019 so far, which is a bigger gain than it's had in four of the last five full years. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 65.23 points, or 0.3 percent, to 25,914.10.

The Nasdaq composite added 25.95 points, or 0.3 percent, to 7,714.48. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks picked up 10.39 points, or 0.7 percent, to 1,563.93.

On market players' mind is the Federal Reserve meeting later in the week, and speculation it may slow its pace of increases for interest rates. The worry in December was that the central bank would raise rates too fast in the face of a slowing global economy and choke off growth. The Fed will meet to discuss interest-rate policy this week, with an announcement scheduled for Wednesday, but economists expect it to announce no change to rates.

Some economists say the Fed could release documents Wednesday that would suggest one rate increase in 2019, or possibly zero, after the Fed raised rates four times in 2018 and three times in 2017.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude oil slipped 3 cents to $59.06 a barrel. It rose 1 percent to $59.09 a barrel Tuesday. Brent crude gained 1 cent to $67.55 a barrel.

CURRENCIES: The dollar fell to 111.21 yen from 111.56 yen Monday. The euro strengthened to $1.1341 from $1.1335.

Tokyo, Mar 18 (AP/UNB) — Shares rose in Asia on Monday as investors awaited signs the U.S. and China could be making progress in negotiations on resolving the trade war between the two biggest economies.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 added 0.7 percent in morning trading to 21,591.90. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.1 percent to 6,181.20. South Korea's Kospi was flat at 2,174.61. Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained nearly 0.4 percent to 29,119.08, while the Shanghai Composite rose 0.6 percent to 3,038.93.

China's congress on Friday endorsed an investment law that aims to address complaints, particularly from the U.S., that China's system is rigged against foreign companies. The U.S. claims China forces companies to share technology in order to do business in the country.

"U.S.-China trade war concerns were a major factor of a global growth downgrade," said Alfonso Esparza, an analyst with Oanda. "While comments from both sides have been positive, there have been few details on where negotiations stand. The delay could once again spark anxiety in the market."

Wall Street ended last week on an upbeat note, with the S&P 500 gaining 0.5 percent Friday to 2,822.48, a new high for the year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.5 percent to 25,848.87. The Nasdaq composite climbed 0.8 percent, to 7,688.53. The S&P 500's gain was 0.5 percent. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies picked up 3.90 points, or 0.3 percent, to 1,553.54.

U.S. stocks have had a strong showing this year, with all the major indexes gaining at least 10 percent.

Traders are also confident that the Federal Reserve will hold off on any action that could jeopardize economic growth. The central bank, which signaled in January that it was hitting pause on its rate hikes amid a slowdown in global growth and weak inflation, is holding a meeting of policymakers this week.

CURRENCIES: The dollar rose to 111.56 Japanese yen from 111.48 yen on Friday. The euro strengthened to $1.1335 from $1.1326.

ENERGY: The price of U.S. crude oil slipped 21 cents to $58. 31 a barrel. It slipped 0.2 percent to settle last week at $58.52 a barrel. Brent crude dropped 16 cents to $67.00 a barrel.

Dhaka, Mar 16 (UNB)- PRAN, a food processor of the country, recently secured export orders worth around$0.5 million at ANUFOOD Fair, one of largest beverage and food fairs in the world

PRAN participated in the three-day fair that took place at Sao Paulo in Brazil, began on March 12.

Md Mizanur Rahman, Chief Operating Officer at PRAN Export Limited said “South America is a big market. There is a huge scope to export food items. We have participated in the fair for the first time to utilize the scope.” 

The group displayed its products in 10 categories including Juice, beverage, biscuit, bakery and confectionary.

He also said PRAN products are now available in Bolivia, Venezuela, Ecuador and Surinam. Through the fair, scope has been created to export PRAN products in Chili, Peru, Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil and Columbia.