Farnborough off to flier with large orders

Boeing clinched the first big deal of this year's Farnborough International Airshow yesterday with a firm, $7.2bn (£4.6bn) order to supply 75 of its redesigned 737 Dreamliner planes to Air Lease Corporation, the US plane leaser.

The order was announced as the helicopter maker AgustaWestland gave British manufacturing a boost by revealing it would make the search and rescue version of its AW189 model at its Yeovil plant in Somerset – securing about 1,500 jobs. The Ministry of Defence also signed a £50m deal with Airbus to supply a "full flight simulator" for the company's A400M military transport plane.

Up to 250,000 visitors will attend the six-day show, with 1,400 exhibitors from 40 countries.