Speakers: Too many cruise passengers can weaken tourism in historic port cities

CHARLESTON Some speakers at a conference in Charleston say too many cruise passengers can weaken the tourism economies of historic port cities and discourage other tourists from visiting and staying in those towns. An international conference on the cruises in historic cities is under way in Charleston. Speakers said Thursday that too many cruise ships can cause congestion and pollution making those destinations less attractive to visitors who fly or drive to those cities. About 100 people attending the conference were told tourists who stay in hotels and eat meals in local restaurants spend far more than cruise passengers who stay on and eat on ships. Charleston has been embroiled in controversy over the city’s year-round cruise industry that has sparked lawsuits in both state and federal courts.

Boeing gets permission for test flights of troubled 787

WASHINGTON Boeing is getting permission for test flights of its 787 as it tries to fix battery problems that have kept the plane grounded. The Federal Aviation Administration says the test flights will have restrictions, including pre-flight testing and inspections, and in-flight monitoring. The tests are limited to airspace over unpopulated areas. Boeing says the tests will happen on one of the six airplanes it used for testing before the 787 was certified by the FAA in late 2011. The planes still can’t be used for passenger flights until the FAA is satisfied that the battery problem is fixed. The grounding order issued on Jan. 16 meant that Boeing even needed FAA permission to fly an empty 787 from Texas to Washington state on Thursday after it had been painted. Meanwhile, the government should reassess its safety approval of the Boeing 787 lithium ion batteries, the nation’s top accident investigator said Thursday, casting doubt on whether the airliner’s troubles can be quickly remedied.

McClatchy posts loss in fourth

SACRAMENTO, Calif. The McClatchy Co., publisher of 30 daily newspapers including The State, The Sacramento Bee and The Miami Herald, said Thursday that it posted a loss in the fourth quarter after booking a one-time charge for refinancing debt. The loss in the three months through Dec. 30 came to $30 million, or 35 cents per share. A year ago, the company posted a quarterly profit of $42 million, or 49 cents per share. The debt refinancing caused a $60 million after-tax charge, or roughly 70 cents per share. Revenue rose 1 percent to $355.7 million, but the gain was primarily due to an extra week that the previous year’s quarter didn’t have. On a comparable 13-week basis, revenue fell 5 percent to $333 million from $351.4 million. Still, the company said its effort to increase digital advertising revenue is paying off. For the comparable 13 weeks, total digital ad revenue was up 3.5 percent to $51.3 million compared with the same period a year earlier. Digital advertising made up 20 percent of the company’s total ad revenue, compared to 18.5 percent a year ago.

The Associated Press contributed.