Business briefs

Advertiser Staff

Gas prices set another record

The statewide average price for regular gasoline rose 2.6 cents to $2.279 a gallon as prices reached new highs in Honolulu, Wailuku and Hilo, according to the AAA travel club's survey posted yesterday.

On O'ahu, regular gas rose 1.6 cents on average from the day before to $2.174 a gallon. In Wailuku, it went up 4.5 cents to $2.534; in Hilo, it rose 2 cents to $2.304, exceeding a record set on July 3, 2001.

Hawaiian begins Sydney flights

Hawaiian Airlines' inaugural flight from Sydney, Australia, arrived in Honolulu yesterday to begin four-times-a-week service. The flights will add 1,000 more passenger seats to Hawai'i per week.

5% growth seen for seed crops

Hawai'i's seed crop industry is forecast to grow 5 percent to a record $50.5 million during the 2003-04 growing season, according to a Hawaii Agricultural Statistics Service estimate.

The industry, which grows seed for export, has doubled in value during the last decade. The value is based on gross operational budgets because most of the seed produced is used in research rather than sold commercially.

Seed crop acreage is expected to increase 5 percent to a high of 4,080 acres.

Isles rank 3rd in travel survey

Hawai'i is the third most desired summer destination, according to the Travel Industry Association of America. About 16 percent of those surveyed said Hawai'i is where they'd most like to visit. Florida and California drew the most interest.