BRITISH Aerospace gave a warm welcome to news that it was back in the European Future Large Aircraft pack.

It had the prospect of orders for 40 or 50 of the big European transport aircraft early in the next decade.

The cost of a deal, that could mean between £5 billion and £12 billion worth of orders, was an agreement by the Government to order 25 rival US aircraft immediately.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.