EADS looks for opportunities in America.

During a conference held by France-Ameriques and French-American Foundation, Louis Gallois reasserted yesterday that EADS would acquire companies in the US, but also make investments or look for partnerships in other countries like Mexico, Canada or Brazil. EADS is “scrutinising midsize companies in the US to assess which ones could possibly be our target”, he declared, adding that EADS had some € 7Bn at hand that it can use to buy up dollar-based companies or invest in setting up industrial activities in dollar-based countries.

Boeing’s defence business increasingly shifts focus away from military aircraft

to electronics and hardware. The Seattle Times goes back over Boeing’s records as a military aircraft supplier during World War II and Cold War. Today, the company cannot boast one single US government contract to build the armed forces’ next-generation fighters, bombers, tankers and transport aircraft, comments the daily. Boeing’s Integrated Defence Systems relies on the US government for the greatest share of its business and the Pentagon’s recent decision to award a multibillion tanker contract to an EADS-led team is seen as a blow at the defence division.

EADS Astrium announced that it had signed a deal with

UK-based Surrey University to acquire small satellite manufacturer Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL). In a statement, parent company EADS explained that Surrey University would sell its stake of about 80 % in SSTL, which would remain an independent UK company. The deal is pending to regulatory approval. No price has been formally announced, but The Guardian calculates that the contract is valued at ? 40M to ? 50M.

Airbus said yesterday that it had won 395 net orders

in the quarter to March 31 from customers including China Southern, Finnair and Aer Lingus. In a statement, the plane maker indicated that, including 25 cancellations, the gross total amounted to 420 orders, including 302 single-aisle aircraft, 115 models of the A330, A340 and A350 families, and three A380s. In March alone, Airbus won 54 orders. The company also said it had delivered 123 aircraft over the period, or 7 % more than in the first quarter of 2007. Reuters (07/04), Bloomberg (07/04)

Airbus is preparing to compete with the Chinese aerospace industry.

The Chinese authorities recently announced that the newly-established Import and Export National Corporation would start delivering the new ARJ21 regional jet manufactured by Avic I and Avic II in the first quarter of 2009. In an effort to increase its market share in China, where air traffic surges 7.1 % annually, Airbus prepares an offensive: Marwan Lahoud, head of strategy and marketing at EADS, met Chinese vice-Premier Zhang in Beijing last Friday.

Airbus plans to launch a demonstrator for an A320-based freighter

model in cooperation with Russian companies UAC and Irkut in 2011. The project financing and the new structure of the joint venture with the Russian partners should be finalised “by the end of May”, said Andreas Sperl, chief executive of the Dresden-based Elbe Flugzeugwerke facility, which will partly manufacture the new plane. He added that the freighter has already raised interest from one potential customer, who would be ready to order 30 units. AFP (07/04), Cinco Dias

Following an anonymous tip about alleged technical flaws in the A380,

a police investigation was led in Hamburg. A spokesperson for the local supervisory authority said police investigations found no quality flaws in the superjumbo. Hence, added the spokesperson, the proceedings will most likely be dropped. Financial Times Deutschland, Hamburger Abendblatt, Die Welt

Special report about Mexico’s emerging aerospace industry.

Attracted by lower wages, government incentives, trained workers and new agreements with the US, aerospace companies are rushing to Mexico. General Electric, for instance, has set up a research centre where aircraft engines are designed. Bombardier, meanwhile, has plans to eventually assemble complete aircraft in the country.

The Air France-KLM board yesterday “confirmed and approved”

CEO Jean-Cyril Spinetta’s decision to terminate the negotiations over the takeover of Alitalia, after he failed to reach an agreement with the Italian airline’s trade unions. In a statement, the board reiterated that Air France-KLM considers that its takeover project –approved by the Italian government- is “the only one that can get Alitalia back on the road to profitable growth rapidly”. Hence, it is excluded that the French-Dutch carrier reopens negotiations with the Italian unions. Though internal sources assert that the Alitalia case is over for good, the board hinted at a slight chance that the offer could be revived if the unions accepted Air France-KLM’s final terms. Les Echos

US airlines Delta and Northwest have resumed discussions

over a possible merger. Initially started in January, the talks were interrupted in March due to a lack of agreement with the two groups’ pilot unions. Citing unnamed sources at Air France-KLM, La Tribune reports that Delta and Northwest would study a similar merger project to that of Air France and KLM. Should this merger be finalised, the French-Dutch airline would need to invest less than the initially proposed $ 750M in the new entity because fewer synergies would be created and restructuring needs would be lower. La Tribune