NEW YORK, Sept 30, 2008 (AFP) - US plane maker Boeing raised doubts Tuesday that the first flight of its next-generation jet, the 787 Dreamliner, would take place as scheduled later this year because of a strike by machinists.

TOKYO, Sept 30, 2008 (AFP) - The Asia-Pacific region is expected to become the biggest aviation market in the world within about a decade, a senior official at US airplane maker Boeing said Tuesday.

NEW YORK, Sept 30, 2008 (AFP) - US plane maker Boeing raised doubts Tuesday that the first flight of its newest jet, the 787 Dreamliner, would take place as scheduled later this year because of a strike by machinists.

'If the strike is going on, we can't try the 787 at the end of the year like we planned. We need the full team on board,' Boeing spokesman Tim Healy told AFP on Tuesday.

PARIS, Sept 25, 2008 (AFP) - European aerospace group EADS said Thursday the first flight of its A400M military transporter, planned for the end of the year, is now postponed to an indefinite date.

EADS said in statement the timing of the first flight would depend on tests carried out on the aircraft engine 'and on the readiness of the propulsion system.'

TOULOUSE, France, Sept 18, 2008 (AFP) - Airbus is on track to deliver 12 A380 superjumbo airliners this year, 21 in 2009 and between 30 and 40 in 2010, the company's president and CEO Thomas Enders said late Wednesday.

TOKYO, Sept 17, 2008 (AFP) - Japan Airlines, Asia's largest carrier, said Wednesday it planned to introduce 11 Boeing planes into its fleet to make up for a delay in the US aviation giant's next-generation Dreamliner.

LONDON, September 15, 2008 (AFP) - British engineering firm GKN said Monday it had agreed to buy the plant in Britain owned by European planemaker Airbus, which has hit financial troubles owing to delays to its A380 superjumbo.

GKN said in a statement that it had struck a deal to buy the Filton plant in western England for 136 million pounds (171 million euros, 245 million dollars).

WASHINGTON, September 10, 2008 (AFP) - The machinists union strike against Boeing entered a fifth day Wednesday with no sign of a resumption of contract talks on the horizon, both sides said.

'It is going strong. There are no new talks scheduled at this time,' Frank Larkin, spokesman for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) told AFP.

WASHINGTON, September 10, 2008 (AFP) - The Pentagon canceled a 35 billion-dollar competition for a new aerial refueling tanker Wednesday, leaving the politically charged decision for one of its biggest military contracts to a new administration.

PARIS, September 10, 2008 (AFP) - The head of European aerospace giant EADS said Wednesday he was 'disappointed' with a US decision to cancel a 35 billion dollar tender for a new inflight refueling tanker which EADS had hoped to win.

'We are of course disappointed by the decision,' Eurpean Aeronautic Defence and Space Company chief executive Louis Gallois said in a statement.