Sector: Airlines

AirAsia is studying a potential $4 billion deal to buy another 50 Airbus A320 passenger jets, its founder told Reuters on Thursday, extending the budget carrier's dramatic growth, months after it placed a record order for 200.

Shares of some top airlines companies are up at 1 p.m.:

Airline stocks rose on Thursday after a J.P. Morgan analyst raised his estimates of the companies' future profits because of the recent drop in jet fuel prices.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - In February, few could have guessed that a brief fire at a refinery in Cherry Point, Washington, would have a more dramatic effect on U.S. gasoline prices than the threat of war in the Middle East or a historic boom in domestic oil output.

Hewlett-Packard helped pull the Dow Jones industrial average to a slight gain Thursday, giving the index only its fourth gain this month.

(Reuters) - The passenger who said she had a surgically-implanted device in her body and caused a US Airways jetliner flying across the North Atlantic to divert to Maine will not face criminal charges in the security scare, prosecutors said on Wednesday.

The CEO of feeder airline operator Republic Airways said on Wednesday that new Bombardier jets could be flown in the U.S. in a partnership with one of the big airline alliances.

(Reuters) - The passenger who said she had a surgically-implanted device in her body and caused a US Airways jetliner to divert to Maine will not face criminal charges in the security scare, prosecutors said on Wednesday.

Shares of some top airlines companies are mixed at 10 a.m.:

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Jet Airways <JET.NS> is expected to order more than 100 narrow-body aircraft for up to $3.75 billion in 2012/13 as the largest Indian carrier grabs market share from its troubled rivals, a leading consultancy said.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China plans to buy more than 2,500 commercial aircraft from 2011 to 2015, bringing the country's total fleet size to more than 4,500 jets, Xinhua News Agency reported on Wednesday, citing the country's top aviation regulator.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - From a chilly perch in Burnsville, Minnesota, Tim Zemanovic has an usual perspective on the global aircraft market, which is booming - some say overheating - as the world's largest plane-makers pump out jets as fast they can.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - From a chilly perch in Burnsville, Minnesota, Tim Zemanovic has an usual perspective on the global aircraft market, which is booming - some say overheating - as the world's largest plane-makers pump out jets as fast they can.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Airways flight from Paris to Charlotte, North Carolina, was diverted to an airport in Maine where it landed safely after reports of a passenger showing "suspicious behavior," U.S. officials said on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Airways flight from Paris to Charlotte, North Carolina, was diverted to an airport in Maine where it landed safely after reports of a passenger showing "suspicious behavior," U.S. officials said on Tuesday.