Brussels  - Lufthansa is to take over Belgian carrier Brussels Airlines, the two carriers said Monday in Brussels, just over two weeks after confirming they were in merger talks.

In a first step, the big German airline is to pay 65 million euros (91 million dollars) to acquire 45 per cent of Brussels Airlines from SN Holding. Lufthansa can acquire the rest between 2011 and 2014 at a market price not to exceed 250 million euros.

Vienna  - Lufthansa, Air France-KLM and the Russian carrier S7 will likely bid for the takeover of Austrian Airlines, several Austrian media reported Monday.

Austria's state holding company OeIAG is seeking to sell its 42.75- per-cent stake in the Austrian flag carrier by late October.

Sources close to the OeIAG's governing board told Austrian news agency APA that British Airways was no longer on the shortlist that is to be formalized on Tuesday.

Brussels - Lufthansa is to take over Belgium's airline, Brussels Airlines, the two carriers said Monday in Brussels, just over two weeks after confirming they were in merger talks.

In a first step, the big German airline is to pay 65 million euros to acquire 45 per cent of Brussels Airlines from SN Holding. Lufthansa can acquire the rest in 2011.

Lufthansa had earlier confirmed it was in takeover talks.

London  - European aircraft manufacturer Airbus sold part of its manufacturing site in Britain Monday to engineering giant GKN for 136 million pounds (243 million dollars) as the government revealed it had agreed to give financial backing for the deal.

GNK, one of Britain's leading engineering firms, is to acquire the manufacturing operation at the site in Filton, near Bristol, in western England, where wing components for the Airbus are made.

Business Secretary John Hutton said the government had agreed, in principle, to support GKN with a repayable launch investment of 60 million pounds.

Paris - The schedule of deliveries of the Airbus A380 superjumbo aircraft to its customers will have to be revised for a fifth time, the weekly Le Journal du Dimanche reported on Sunday.

Citing an Airbus source close to the A380 programme, the newspaper said that only 10 A380 planes will be delivered this year, instead of the 12 announced previously.

In 2009, the discrepancy could be even greater, with only 15 aircraft delivered instead of the planned 21, the report said.