Business news for Mon, 17 Dec 2007 & with word aircraft. 4 news.

CHINA Eastern Airlines Corp, the nation's third-largest carrier, said it is in talks to buy 40 Boeing Co 737 planes and has applied to the government for 40 Airbus SAS A320s to expand its fleet. The planned purchases may help expand the Shanghai-based carrier's fleet by 53 percent to 322 aircraft in 2010 from the current 210, Zhang Jing, a China Eastern spokeswoman, said yesterday, confirming a Reuters report. Singapore Airlines Ltd and parent Temasek Holdings Pte plan to buy a 24-percent stake in China Eastern for HK$7.16 billion (US$918 million), cutting the carrier's debt and easing its "most difficult" period, Chairman Li Fenghua said last week. The cash infusion may help the company pay for the planes to compete with Air China Ltd, according to Bloomberg News. "Carriers are queuing up to buy planes as demand grows," said Ma Ying, an analyst at Haitong Securities Co in Shanghai. "China Eastern's stake sale will enable it to afford the

Airbus boss Thomas Enders could be days away from selling four of the aircraft maker's factories to U.S. company Spirit Aero Systems, a German newspaper reported Sunday.

A 'key person' in last year's alleged plot to blow up Heathrow aircraft escapes custody after appearing in an Islamabad court where he was fighting a UK extradition request

China Eastern Airlines intends to buy 40 Airbus A320 aircraft and is in talks for 40 Boeing 737s to expand its domestic and regional routes.