UPS orders 30 Airbus jetliners

UNITED PARCEL Service ordered 30 Airbus aircraft yesterday and placed options for 30 more in a deal worth over $5bn (pounds 3bn). The order deal means Airbus has announced orders worth $11.9bn at the Farnborough Air Show, almost double the total of rival Boeing.

The Defence Secretary, George Robertson, said France must privatise its aviation industry so that a united Europe could challenge the US giants.