Qantas Airways Ltd

Boeing Co., the world's second-largest maker of commercial airplanes, said Monday that Air New Zealand Ltd. had finalized an order for four additional 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft valued at $700 million at list prices. The order, which was first announced in December, will bring the airline's total Dreamliner order to eight, Boeing said. The four airplanes will be delivered between 2011 and 2013.

Airbus will take several years to meet its original delivery schedule for the A380 plane after delays over wiring and weight issues, the company's chief operating officer said Tuesday. Airbus said June 1 that it was facing a six-month delay in delivering the first A380s to customers such as Singapore Airlines Ltd., Qantas Airways Ltd. and Air France-KLM Group. The plane will be the world's largest airliner. Toulouse, France-based Airbus is trailing rival Boeing Co.

Boeing Co. said Wednesday that it had held talks with two of Asia's biggest carriers about ordering its 7E7 jetliner, the company's first new commercial aircraft line in 13 years, and could sign a customer next year. Singapore Airlines Ltd. and Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. are among airlines in "detailed conversations" concerning the 7E7, said Mike Bair, Boeing's senior vice president for the program. The news comes one day after Boeing's board decided to go ahead and market the plane.

Airbus said Wednesday that deliveries of its 21st century flagship, the double-decker A380 super-jumbo, would be delayed by as many as six months, taking the flourish off one of the most trumpeted aviation launches in decades. Airbus, which is betting on the A380 to maintain the lead it took over U.S. rival Boeing Co. in 2003, had warned customer Singapore Airlines Ltd. in April that it would receive its planes late next year instead of in March.

Eastman Kodak Co. said Wednesday that it was selling its health-imaging business, created after the discovery of X-rays in 1895, to Canadian investment firm Onex Corp. for as much as $2.55 billion as the picture-taking pioneer bets its future on digital photography and commercial printing. Kodak said it planned to pay down about $1.15 billion in debt and funnel the rest of the proceeds into unspecified digital ventures as profits from its storied film business rapidly erode.

After 2 1/2 years of negotiations, the governments of Australia and the United States have agreed to expand airline service between the two countries. An agreement signed during the weekend allows U.S. airlines to fly to Brisbane, Cairns and one other Australian city to be chosen by the United States, and then fly on to eight other Australian destinations. The two U.S. carriers serving Australia, Continental Airlines and United Airlines, currently can fly to four Australian cities.

Airlines and service providers seeking to deliver high-speed Internet services to passengers say they've learned from Boeing Co.'s 2006 decision to pull the plug on its ambitions to outfit its planes with a similar service. Analysts say Boeing's failed Connexion online service was costly to install and operate, resulting in large expenditures before getting a single paying customer.