SMBC nears $10B order

Irish leasing company SMBC Aviation Capital is in advanced talks to buy some 100 Airbus aircraft, which could be announced at the Farnborough Airshow. The order may include the current generation of A320 single-aisle jetliners and the more fuel-efficient A320neo, and is potentially worth up to $10 billion at list prices. Dublin-based SMBC Aviation Capital, owned by Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Banking and until 2012 the leasing arm of Royal Bank of Scotland, declined to comment. (Source: Reuters, 07/10/14) Gulf Coast note: Airbus is building an A320 final assembly line in Mobile, Ala.; economic development teams from this region will be attending the Farnborough show.