United Airlines has ordered 50 Airbus A321XLRs to replace Boeing 757s and possibly launch more long-range, thin intercontinental routes, the airline said late Dec. 3.

The Chinese-Russian commercial aircraft consortium (CRAIC) will establish the CR929 engineering center in Moscow, following protracted negotiations between the Russian and Chinese partners in the widebody airliner program.

Year-to-date cancellations of large commercial aircraft orders are totaling 441 units through November, according to financial analysts, a worrying but not catastrophic increase over the 303 in 2018.

The European Union (EU) failed to prove it fixed illegal subsidies of Airbus A380 and A350 XWB production, the World Trade Organization (WTO) announced Dec. 2, dispelling the assertion that the A380’s eventual wind-down settles that part of the long-running large aircraft dispute with the US and Boeing.

Munich-based MTU Aero Engines is projecting high-single-digit increases in its key commercial engine production and MRO segments in 2020, continuing current-year trends that point to steady new-production and aftermarket services demand.