Gerry and Chris Kenny gave a great farewell bash at Rowdha.

The old homestead was very tastefully decked out in an Arabic style. The array of food offerings was truly a credit to Christine. The tastes varied from hot Indian curry to aromatic Italian fare. Well done Chris! They are to move to LotusIII Compound, shortly.

THE GANG

Full size picture available in the Photo Album

Boeing To Lease 4 Aircraft To U.K.  

(Associated Press)

British defense officials, still waiting for Airbus Industrie to produce a proposed military cargo plane, have decided to lease four C-17s from Boeing in the meantime, the British Ministry of Defense said Tuesday. 

Big four expected to give super-jumbo the all-clear

By ROSS TIEMAN

Airbus Industrie chief Nol Forgeard is limbering up to seek approval from his shareholders to spend $12 billion developing the world's first super-jumbo, the A3XX.

The board of the four-nation airliner consortium, meeting on 26 May at Airbus headquarters in Toulouse, is expected to give Forgeard authority to ask for the go-ahead from the group's industry owners, BAe Systems, which has 20%, Aerospatiale Matra of France, Dasa of Germany and Casa of Spain.

The plane's development will be financed equally by the consortium partners, sub-contractors and cheap loans from parent States. It already has backing from the British Government which has pledged £530 million of loan aid and which yesterday also said it aims to buy a planned Airbus military transport, the A400M, despite having already ordered new Hercules planes from Lockheed Martin of the US.

Shares on the way up...?

see BAe

Although an industry debate over the commercial viability of the project remains unresolved, Forgeard has taken encouragement from two declarations of intent from airlines to buy the 555-seat, double-deck plane.

Singapore Airlines, which owns 49% of Virgin Atlantic Airways and is one of the world's most profitable carriers, yesterday said it was interested in placing firm orders for 10 of the aircraft, which will have a list price of some $230 million apiece, and taking options over six more.

Emirates has also said it plans to order five and take five options.

Jane's Birthday

While at Chris and Gerry's, Jane was presented with a birthday cake, can't reveal a lady's age of course, but you could count the candles!

Cathay undecided on Airbus A3XX

Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd said on Wednesday it had not decided whether to order the A3XX superjumbo jet proposed by Airbus Industrie despite rival Singapore Airlines' apparent intention to buy the plane.

"We are looking at the airplane and we are studying what it can do for us. We are discussing the matter with Airbus. We have not made up our minds whether we do want the airplane or not," Cathay Chief Executive David Turnbull told reporters after the company's annual shareholders' meeting.

Turnbull said Airbus has sought an indication of Cathay's interest by May 26, when Airbus partners  are expected to give the group a green light to offer airlines the plane.

Asked if this meant Cathay would make an announcement about the A3XX before then, Turnbull said: "Maybe, maybe not."

Cutting from "Streets (Ahead)..."

Cathay, which has long been forecast as a launch customer for 555-seater super jetliner, has also been talking to Boeing Co about a stretched version of its 747, Turnbull said. He did not elaborate.

On Tuesday, Airbus said it was talking to the Singapore national carrier about buying up to 16 A3XX jets, which would end the decades-long dominance of the Boeing 747 in the jumbo market.

Turnbull said Airbus had told Cathay that the first A3XX would not be in service until the end of 2005 or early 2006, with a freighter possibly available by 2007.

Cathay Chief Operating Officer Philip Chen said the airline, flying out of one of the region's worst economic downturns in a generation, was heading for a promising second quarter.

"I am quite confident of a good second quarter for a few reasons. Number one is that demand continues to be quite good," Chen said.

"Last year, the second quarter was a bit affected by the disruption (over a pilot's pay dispute). I think this year comparatively will be better."

 European missile over US

The UK's ministry of defence has decided to buy a European air-to-air missile in preference to a US rival backed by the Clinton administration. The Meteor missile is a joint venture between BAE Systems, the British arms maker, and France's Aerospatiale Matra. Geoff Hoon, defence secretary, told parliament the consortium expected to create and sustain 1,200 jobs in Britain. Raytheon of the US and the world leader in guided missiles, was the other competitor in the race which prompted lobbying by President Bill Clinton. Mr Hoon said the government intended to buy more of Raytheon's missiles until Meteor came into production later this decade.

STOP PRESS

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