VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Airlines are sticking with plans to buy the latest generation of fuel-saving passenger jets even though falling jet fuel costs have undercut the case for these planes, the head of one of the world's largest aircraft leasing companies said in an interview.

European jet maker Airbus Group NV (AIR.PA) aims to double the annual value of aircraft components it sources from China to $1 billion by 2020, the firm's China Chief Operating Officer, Rafael Gonzalez-Ripoll-Garzon, said on Tuesday.

Japan's SMBC Aviation Capital has bought 80 Boeing Co (BA.N) 737 Max planes, the largest order from an aircraft lessor for the upgraded variant of the narrow-body jet.

Turkey's Atlasjet has reached a preliminary deal with European planemaker Airbus (AIR.PA) to buy around 30 aircraft worth $3 billion at list prices as it expands in eastern Europe and central Asia, two people familiar with the matter said.

British holidays and airline company Monarch has been acquired by investment firm Greybull Capital which will pump 125 million pounds ($201 million) into the company as it turns itself into a budget airline.

Boeing said on Wednesday it had sold aircraft-related goods to Iran Air in the third quarter, marking the first acknowledged dealings between U.S. aerospace companies and Iran since the 1979 U.S. hostage crisis.

The Brazilian Army has expressed interest in buying a handful of Boeing Co (BA.N) CH-47 Chinook helicopters, the company said on Wednesday, saying that it continued to view Brazil as an important partner for defense and commercial projects.

British engineering company Rolls-Royce (RR.L) said airline Norwegian (NWC.OL) had selected its engines to power nine Boeing (BA.N) Dreamliner aircraft and signed up for a long-term maintenance and servicing contract worth $440 million.

As India celebrated becoming the first Asian nation to reach Mars, S.M. Vaidya, head of business at conglomerate Godrej's aerospace division that made the spacecraft's engine and thruster components, sounded surprisingly downbeat.

Air France sought to bring a costly 12-day pilots strike, over the expansion of its budget Transavia unit, to an end on Friday with a series of proposals that won the backing of the company's board and French Prime Minister Manuel Valls.

In a boost to U.S. weapons makers looking for ways to offset lower domestic military spending, India is expected to choose Sikorsky Aircraft's S-70B Sea Hawk helicopters at a 16-aircraft tender worth over $1 billion.

Aircraft leasing companies voiced confidence in steady jetliner demand, but warned new aviation investors that they may take a painful hit when central banks start unwinding their efforts to stimulate the economy.

The United Nation's civil aviation body, currently wrestling with how to help airlines maintain safety over conflict zones, is taking first steps toward protection for commercial vessels in space.

NASA will partner with Boeing and SpaceX to build commercially owned and operated "space taxis" to fly astronauts to the International Space Station, ending U.S. dependence on Russia for rides, officials said on Tuesday.

Asia's richest man, Li Ka-shing, aims to buy his way into the global aircraft leasing business as his flagship investment firm holds talks with lessors on building a portfolio of planes, people with direct knowledge of the matter said.