The aviation arm of Alaska International had a colorful list of clients, including the Central Intelligence Agency and the shah of Iran.
They have reached a memorandum of understanding, and the order will be completed within a few months, said John Leahy, the head of Airbus's civil aviation arm.
Lack of demand for aircraft parts meant sales at Meggitt's civil aviation arm, which makes up almost half group revenues, were flat.
He sold the company's aviation arm early this year, and finally placed the whole company, including its huge headquarters and training complex in Moyock, N.C., up for sale in June.
"I don't think we're going to see a new, significantly larger airplane from Boeing, because the market is relatively small," Alan Mullaly, head of Boeing's commercial aviation arm, said today.
Under the terms of Wednesday's announcement, an Aim-listed cash shell company called Rubicon has bought the aviation arm of Lonrho, an ancestor of the pan-African conglomerate formerly run by Tiny Rowland, in a deal worth $85.7m£55m5m).
Randy Baseler, vice president for Boeing's commercial aviation arm, said today that the Airbus A380 goes against the growth pattern of air travel, which he argued was moving away from giant aircraft on long multistop routes and toward smaller point-to-point flights.
Boeing, which has offices and plants in 26 states, shocked people here two years ago when it abruptly moved its headquarters -- and hundreds of jobs -- to Chicago, where it could distance itself from its commercial aviation arm and take advantage of big tax breaks and other incentives.
General Electric's aviation arm GE Aviation is one of the biggest manufacturer of aircraft engines in the world along with peers like Pratt & Whitney and Rolls Royce.
Not one to shy away from difficult problems, Virgin has just announced that their aviation arm will be partnering with carbon-handling company LanzaTech to spread a new process for cleaner creation of jet fuel.
Airbus, EADS's civil-aviation arm, hit the news in November after a Rolls-Royce engine on a Qantas A380 superjumbo exploded in mid-flight.
