Hong Kong airline buys two used Boeing jumbo jets

Herald staff

SEATTLE — A Hong Kong-based regional airline has bought two used Boeing 747s and plans to remodel them for use as freighters.

Boeing Airplane Services will provide the parts kits for the job, which will be done by Take (Xiamen) Aircraft Engineering Co. in Xiamen, China, part of Boeing’s worldwide network of modification and engineering facilities.

Dragonair is buying the jumbo jets from Singapore Air as part of its efforts to beef up service between Hong Kong and Europe. The airline’s cargo business accounts for 21 percent of its revenues now, a figure that should climb to 30 percent once the new planes are delivered, the company said.

Mustang brake problem: Ford Motor Co. will recall about 430,000 Ford Mustangs with manual transmissions from the 1994 to 2001 model years because their parking brakes might slip. Owners will get a letter on what to do. Until then, they should leave it in first gear with brake engaged while parked.

Monday prices: Gold sold for $265.70 a troy ounce, silver sold for $4.78 and platinum sold for $584.60.

T-bills rise: Interest rates on short-term Treasuries rose Monday. Three-month bills sold at a discount rate of 6.220 percent with an actual return of 6.406 percent. Six-month bills sold for a discount rate of 6.105 percent with a 6.386 percent actual return. The average yield for one-year Treasury bills, the most popular index for changing adjustable rate mortgages, rose to 6.11 percent.