Aviation Week analyses the upcoming “narrow-bodies battle” as plane manufacturers are considering future product strategies.

Aviation Week analyses the upcoming “narrow-bodies battle” as plane manufacturers are considering future product strategies. Airbus and Boeing face “increasingly tough production decisions” as they try to elaborate strategies for the end of the next decade. With the introduction of Bombardier’s C-Series,

Airbus, Safran and Caisse des Depots yesterday announced the creation of a € 75M investment fund aimed at supporting SMEs in the French aeronautics sector.

Airbus, Safran and Caisse des Depots yesterday announced the creation of a € 75M investment fund aimed at supporting SMEs in the French aeronautics sector. La Tribune says this fund, named Aerofund II, clearly has one goal: pushing further the consolidation of the aeronautics industry.

Airbus’s commercial future is bright, writes Prof.

Airbus’s commercial future is bright, writes Prof. Philip Lawrence, Director of the Aerospace Research Centre in Bristol, in a letter to Financial Times. Airbus has been paying the price of earlier management mistakes on its A380 programme.

Louis Gallois said yesterday that the aviation market remained “rather buoyant” in spite of high oil prices

Louis Gallois said yesterday that the aviation market remained “rather buoyant” in spite of high oil prices. In an interview with TV channel LCI, he pointed at the two-side effect of the current oil price: “It weakens demand, or can even lead to order cancellations”, but, on the other hand, “it can also generate new orders”

Airbus is in “advanced talks” with British engineering group GKN over the sale of its Filton site

Airbus is in “advanced talks” with British engineering group GKN over the sale of its Filton site, near Bristol, said Thomas Enders at the Farnborough Air Show yesterday. “There are significant obstacles to overcome”,

The Farnborough Air Show has shown that Airbus and Boeing stand up to the uncertain economic context.

The Farnborough Air Show has shown that Airbus and Boeing stand up to the uncertain economic context. The 2008 edition of the Farnborough Air Show closed its doors to professionals yesterday.

Airbus increases its industrial presence in China.

Airbus increases its industrial presence in China. Borsen-Zeitung reports that Airbus has agreed to form a joint venture with Chinese Harbin Aircraft Industry Group. The plane maker will hold a 20% stake in the joint venture,

Louis Gallois yesterday saluted the Pentagon’s decision to restart competition for the $ 35Bn contract to supply air refuelling tankers to the US Air Force

Louis Gallois yesterday saluted the Pentagon’s decision to restart competition for the $ 35Bn contract to supply air refuelling tankers to the US Air Force. He said EADS committed to supporting its partner Northrop Grumman’s efforts to answer the client’s needs. This decision is a blow at Airbus and the US Air Force, comments Aujourd’hui en France.

Airbus appointed new executives to oversee its A380 and A320 programmes.

Airbus appointed new executives to oversee its A380 and A320 programmes. Alain Flourens, 51, will run the A380 programme, thus succeeding Mario Heinen, who shifts to become executive vice-president

Airbus and Boeing remain optimistic ahead of the Farnborough Air Show

Airbus and Boeing remain optimistic ahead of the Farnborough Air Show. In spite of the oil crisis hitting the airline sector, the civil aeronautics industry fares well, ensures Boeing. For its part, Airbus

La Tribune reports that investors focus on more important problems than the US tanker affair

Speaking of EADS’s evolution on the stock market, La Tribune reports that investors focus on more important problems than the US tanker affair -among which the A400M and A380 programmes.

Seattle Post Intelligencer reports on Airbus’s relentless efforts to “crack the Japanese market”

Seattle Post Intelligencer reports on Airbus’s relentless efforts to “crack the Japanese market”, in which Boeing enjoys near-monopoly. All Nippon Airways (ANA) is seriously considering the Airbus A380,

Airbus hopes to sign French-German truce at the Toulouse plant soon

Airbus hopes to sign French-German truce at the Toulouse plant soon, reports Challenges. The weekly magazine goes back over tensions that have emerged between French and German workers

Les Echos wonders how to end the crisis of confidence at EADS

Les Echos wonders how to end the crisis of confidence at EADS. Columnist Bruno Lancesseur says the “EADS house is burning”. Since the first A380 delays, bad news coming from Hamburg and Toulouse have accumulated. Yet, EADS remains a “paradox”: the company represents one of the “most beautiful industrial ventures in Europe” –Eurocopter is the world’s largest helicopter manufacturer; MBDA is the number-one or two in the missile world; and EADS Astrium is a leading satellite manufacturer. Not to mention Airbus’s success, points out the columnist, who sees several reasons to the current crisis: the weight of French-German balance; the group’s governance structure; programme issues; illintegrated operations, etc.

Gustav Humbert, the former CEO of Airbus, has been held in custody by French police for further questioning

Gustav Humbert, the former CEO of Airbus, has been held in custody by French police for further questioning as part of the ongoing insider trading investigation. “His custody has been extended”,