An object found on the French island of Reunion has been confirmed as “a domestic ladder” and is not a plane part, amid reports that a new piece of plane debris, possibly from missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, was found on the island.

AIRCRAFT manufacturer Airbus has said that demand for its new aircraft will likely drop by more than 50% this year as an initial flurry of A320neo purchases wanes.

AIRBUS SAS reached a goal of topping 500 orders for its upgraded A320neo aircraft by the end of the Paris Air Show on the second day of the event as carriers put pressure on Boeing Co to respond with an all-new airliner.

Recovery teams removed the last charred bodies from the wreckage of a plane which went down in mountainous central Cuba, as officials vowed today to get to the bottom of what caused the crash and said they have the capacity to do it alone.

Boeing and Airbus expect to find out tomorrow who has won the first round of their epic trade dispute.

The world’s largest and most modern jetliner, the Airbus A380, arrived in its new Singapore home today ahead of a historic flight next week.

Financially-troubled European aeroplane manufacturer Airbus has stopped work on the freight version of its new A380 superjumbo, a spokesman for its parent company said today.

The burden of possible job cuts at Airbus should be spread between its two main sites in Hamburg, Germany, and Toulouse, France, French President Jacques Chirac said today.

The Airbus A380 has passed its emergency evacuation test, the European aircraft maker announced in Paris today, in an important step toward the superjumbo’s official certification for commercial flights.

The European parent of the maker of Airbus aircraft is considering manufacturing some planes in China, but a top executive said today that the company will not make a final decision until summer.

The Irish women’s rugby team will play Six Nations fixtures at Donnybrook for the first time this year when they host Spain in Dublin on February 4, and Wales on February 25.

THE US government and European Union authorities are on a collision course at the World Trade Organisation over subsidies to planemakers Airbus SAS and Boeing.

European planemaking company Airbus kept its position as number one aircraft manufacturer last year, official figures out today confirmed.

IRELAND finished their European Women’s championship challenge very strongly on Saturday, beating their Six Nations opponents Spain 20-12 in Toulouse, France.

AIRBUS SAS and Boeing Co, the world’s two biggest planemakers, won orders from Emirates, the Middle East’s fastest-growing airline, for 67 new planes, which the carrier valued at as much as $19 billion.

The pilots on American Airlines Flight 587 probably did not know the tail had broken off as they desperately tried to right the doomed jetliner, a US federal investigator said today.

American Airlines spokesman Al Becker said the plane was one of 35 A300 airbuses in its fleet.

The plane which crashed in New York is one of the most popular mid-size airliners flying today and has a good safety record.