Swire Properties Inc. has broken ground on Brickell CitiCentre, its new large-scale mixed-use development in Miami, Florida. The project, which will cost US$1.05 billion (approximately HK$8.17 billion) to develop, is the largest private sector venture of its kind in Miami history. The 5.4 million square-foot (over 500,000 square metres) gross floor area development marks the first time that Swire Properties has deployed in the USA the mixed-use model that it has developed and proven in Hong Kong and Mainland China. Located in the heart of the prestigious Brickell district in downtown Miami, Brickell CitiCentre will include a luxury shopping centre, two condominium residences, a hotel, a wellness centre, serviced apartments and two office towers in one master-planned development. The first phase of the project, which includes all elements except for one office tower, is scheduled for completion in 2015, followed by the final office tower in 2018. The development will be well connected to local transportation networks: in addition to providing 3,100 parking spaces, Swire Properties will redesign and enhance the Eighth Street Metromover Station to integrate it into Brickell CitiCentre, and will include two overhead pedestrian crossings to facilitate easy access for visitors to the shopping centre.
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Swire Properties and Sino-Ocean Land have announced they have named the Grade A office tower at their joint venture Chengdu Daci Temple Cultural and Commercial Complex development "Pinnacle One". A 200-metre tower, Pinnacle One will occupy a prime location on Dongda Street in the heart of Chengdu, which is often called the financial hub of Western China. The tower is also located in close proximity to the bustling Chunxi Road shopping district and enjoys direct connectivity to Chengdu's Metro Lines 2 and 3. Designed by the internationally renowned UK firm MAKE Architects, the office tower features a 130-metre long stainless steel canopy and 30-metre high glass roofed atriums - striking design elements which will set new standards for office architecture in Chengdu. Pinnacle One is intended to be developed as a trading property, and is scheduled for completion in 2014. Building on the success of Swire Properties and Sino-Ocean Land's existing INDIGO joint venture project in Beijing, the Chengdu Daci Temple Cultural and Commercial Complex offers a total gross floor area of over 250,000 square metres, comprising a high-end shopping centre with gourmet dining options, a boutique hotel and serviced apartments.
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Aviation
Cathay Pacific Airways has announced that, subject to the approval of the Board of Directors, it will enter into an agreement with Airbus to convert 16 of its existing orders for Airbus A350-900 aircraft to larger Airbus A350-1000 aircraft, and to exercise an option to purchase an additional 10 Airbus A350-1000 aircraft. With this order, Cathay Pacific will have a total of 100 aircraft on order for delivery by 2020, including 22 Airbus A350-900s and 26 Airbus A350-1000s. The A350-1000 aircraft will be powered by the higher thrust version of the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engine.
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Dragonair is to resume scheduled services to Haikou in Hainan Province, with a daily service commencing on 28th October and operated by an Airbus A320 aircraft. Haikou is one of eight destinations to be launched or resumed by Dragonair this year. Since April, Dragonair has resumed or launched scheduled services to Xi'an, Guilin, Jeju, Taichung and Chiang Mai. The airline has also announced the launch of a new service to Kolkata in India later this year. Together with Kolkata and Haikou, the total number of destinations served by the airline will increase to 41.
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Cathay Pacific Airways has been voted "World's Best Business Class" in the annual Skytrax World Airline Awards™. More than 18 million airline passengers from across the world vote in the awards programme, and the award follows Cathay Pacific's introduction of its new Business Class product.
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Cathay Pacific Airways and UNICEF Hong Kong have announced that more than HK$12.9 million was raised through "Change for Good", the airline's inflight fundraising programme, during 2011. Since the programme was launched in 1991, more than HK$120 million has been donated by passengers to support UNICEF programmes that help underprivileged children in more than 150 developing countries around the world.
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Marine Services
Swire Pacific Offshore Operations (Pte) Limited (SPO) has taken delivery of Pacific Orca, the world's largest windfarm installation vessel (WIV), from Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI). With an overall length of 161m, breadth of 49m and depth of 10.4m, Pacific Orca will be the world's largest structure for installing Wind Turbine Generators (WTGs), with a capacity to carry and install up to 12 units of a 3.6 MW design. Pacific Orca can install offshore wind foundations and WTGs in ocean depths of up to 60m, and her special design will enable the installation of the ultra-large WTGs of 10 MW or more that are currently being developed to meet the future needs of the industry. By fixing her six jack-up legs to the seabed and lifting herself up to 17m above the surface of the ocean, Pacific Orca can conduct offshore windfarm installation in a manner least affected by wind and waves, and with maximum accuracy and promptness. She is designed to endure wind velocities of 20m per second and waves up to 2.5m in height. The demand for large offshore wind installation vessels similar is expected to increase in line with rapid growth of the marine wind power market, which industry experts predict will grow from 3.55 GW in 2012 to 239 GW in 2030, prompted by the global push for renewable energy generation.
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