Airbus Is Studying Simple A220 Stretch to Revive Flagging Model
Save
Airbus SE has been sounding out customers appetite for a longer version of its A220-300 jet that would give airlines more seating capacity but at the expense of range.
With the Paris Air Show kicking off on Monday, the plane that's been dubbed the A220-500 is again back in focus. Airbus is hoping to win fresh deals for its existing A220, including from AirAsia for as many as 100 units, people familiar with the talks have said. The European planemaker has been saying for years that it was a matter of when, not if, it moves forward with a bigger version of the airliner.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
18 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Why Keir Starmer is outdoing the EU when it comes to dealing with Donald Trump
As Ursula von der Leyen left Scotland last weekend with the ink still drying on the US/ EU trade deal she had just signed with Trump, the reception in European capitals was beyond gloomy. After all the posturing, threats of counter tariffs, Ms von der Leyen had signed a deal which was roundly criticised by a long line of leaders including German chancellor Friedrich Merz, who said the agreement would "substantially damage" his nation's finances, and French prime minister Francois Bayrou, who described it as tantamount to "submission". Hungary's Viktor Orban, an outspoken critic of the EU leadership, said Trump "ate von der Leyen for breakfast". But there was one question which diplomats and government heads were asking all over Europe: 'How did Keir Starmer get a better deal than us?' Not only is the EU still paying 15 per cent tariffs, but it now has agreed to spend billions purchasing energy resources from the US. This compared to the 10 per cent tariffs for the UK. 'Featherweight' Ursula von der Leyen A seasoned diplomat of an EU member state told The Independent that there was 'anger' about what had happened. The fact that the UK 'appears to be rewarded for Brexit' also really stung. But what was more worrying was that the EU supposed collective muscle had failed to produce the goods. Much of the blame has fallen on Ms von der Leyen herself and she is now being referred to as 'the featherweight'. 'She was just not strong enough to take on Trump,' said the diplomat. 'People are just remembering that she was a weak defence minister in the German government, now she is weak as a negotiator.' An insider at Trump's Turnberry golf resort described how the US president was 'in no hurry' to conclude the talks on Saturday. 'He wanted to spend more time talking to paying guests and getting pictures with them,' The Independent was told. 'He was incredibly gracious to everyone there including the staff.' Respect for Starmer But it was a different story with Sir Keir. The insider noted: 'He spoke very warmly of Starmer. He genuinely likes him. I think he respects Starmer for standing up for himself and being straightforward and honest. Trump does not like a complete sycophant. 'In Keir he sees a decent man which the public in the UK don't seem to see at all.' This seemed to not only touch on trade issues but also the problems in the Middle East. When Emmanuel Macron declared France would recognise a Palestinian state he was savaged by Trump's secretary of state Marco Rubio. When Canadian PM Mark Carney did the same Trump himself said it would threaten their trade deal. But when Starmer did it, Trump effectively greenlit the decision and said he was fine with it. The personal relationship between Starmer and Trump was vital in getting that done. But there was more. One Washington insider close to the White House told The Independent: 'Trump does not want any trouble with the UK until after he had a successful state visit in September.' They predicted: 'The relationship with Starmer will eventually fall apart over censorship – online harms bill, digital services taxes, illegal migration, Palestine, and Labour's capitulation to Islamism.' However, that might not be the case. The key to UK diplomacy with the US is King Charles III and the Prince of Wales, with the US president's reverence of the royal family keeping the show on the road. One source said: 'The King and Trump are actually very close.' Meanwhile he 'has spoken a lot' to Prince William, who he met at the reopening of Notre Dame cathedral in Paris. Mandelson works the room Added to that though has been the work of Lord Mandelson as the UK's ambassador in Washington DC. Having almost had his credentials rejected over links to China, Mandelson has been 'working hard to meet everyone and build relations'. 'He is one of the big reasons the UK did well out of the trade deal,' a source said. He is also been central to ensuring that the state visit in September by Trump is 'a big success'. One DC insider said: 'Currently Lord Mandelson is probably the most effective ambassador in Washington at the moment. He seems to know everybody.' Sir Keir will be hoping that this will all prove to be enough to maintain the preferential treatment he seems to be enjoying as a world leader with the US at the moment.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Professor Coin: What Gives Bitcoin Its Value?
Professor Andrew Urquhart is Professor of Finance and Financial Technology and Head of the Department of Finance at Birmingham Business School (BBS). This is the eighth installment of the Professor Coin column, in which I bring important insights from published academic literature on cryptocurrencies to the Decrypt readership. In this article, I discuss what gives Bitcoin value. In just over a decade, Bitcoin has gone from a niche innovation in cryptography to a globally traded asset with a market capitalization in the hundreds of billions. Yet despite its prominence, a persistent question remains: what gives Bitcoin its value? Bitcoin doesn't generate cash flow like a company, isn't backed by physical reserves like gold, and has no central authority guaranteeing its worth. So why are people willing to pay tens of thousands of dollars for a digital token? Recent academic research points to several factors. Scarcity and Monetary Policy The first pillar of Bitcoin's value is its programmed scarcity. Bitcoin has a fixed supply: only 21 million coins will ever be created. This limit is enforced by the network's consensus rules and is viewed by supporters as a bulwark against inflation. Academic studies have likened Bitcoin to gold because of this scarcity. Pagnotta and Buraschi (2018) model Bitcoin as a decentralized network whose value stems from user adoption and security, both of which are underpinned by the incentives embedded in its monetary policy. In their equilibrium framework, scarcity plays a key role in sustaining long-term value. Why is Bitcoin's supply limit set to 21 million? Scarcity makes Bitcoin attractive as a hedge against inflation, particularly in a world of expanding money supply. A number of economists have investigated whether Bitcoin's scarcity can explain its valuation with Kruger, Meyer, and Withagen (2022) showing the widely discussed stock-to-flow model fits historical data reasonably well, reaffirming the importance of scarcity as one component of Bitcoin's perceived value. Network Effects and Utility Scarcity is not sufficient without demand—and Bitcoin's demand comes from its use as a peer-to-peer digital asset and from the belief that others will accept it in the future. This is where network effects come into play. According to Cong, Li, and Wang (2021) Bitcoin's value grows with its user base. Their tokenomics model shows that the more people adopt and trust Bitcoin, the more valuable the network becomes. This dynamic helps explain why Bitcoin has survived multiple boom-and-bust cycles. Furthermore, Bolt and van Oordt (2016) argue that the value of a virtual currency arises if users expect it to retain value and be accepted in transactions. Their model formalizes how expectations of acceptance can stabilize a volatile asset like Bitcoin. Cost of Production and Network Security Bitcoin is also underpinned by a real-world cost: mining. To secure the network and process transactions, Bitcoin relies on a system called proof-of-work, where miners compete to solve cryptographic puzzles using electricity and hardware. This energy-intensive process is not without controversy, but researchers such as Hayes (2015) have shown that the cost of production provides a fundamental floor for Bitcoin's price. He finds that Bitcoin rarely trades below the marginal cost of mining, reinforcing the idea that energy and security provision matter for valuation. Moreover, the work of Pagnotta and Buraschi (2018) supports this by showing that mining incentives and the strength of the network's security are central to Bitcoin's equilibrium value, not just supply and demand in the traditional sense. Speculation, Sentiment, and Attention In practice, however, Bitcoin's price also reflects investor sentiment and speculation. A surge in media coverage or social media buzz can trigger price rallies or sharp selloffs. Studies by Urquhart (2018) and Shen et al (2019) demonstrate that Bitcoin prices are strongly correlated with online search trends and that trading volume in turn, drives investor attention. Similarly, Liu and Tsyvinski (2021) show that cryptocurrency returns are significantly predicted by investor attention proxies. Unlike traditional assets, Bitcoin lacks ties to macroeconomic fundamentals, so sentiment and belief play an outsized role. Macroeconomic Role and Portfolio Demand Bitcoin's value is also shaped by its role in the broader financial system. In a low-interest-rate environment and amid concerns about fiat currency debasement, investors have turned to Bitcoin as a non-sovereign store of value. This is demonstrated by early work by Baur et al (2018) who show that investors are holding Bitcoin for long periods, but is supported by followup work by Jahanshahloo et al (2025). Recent research has reassessed Bitcoin's role in portfolios, particularly in times of market stress. Corbet, Larkin, and Lucey (2020) find that Bitcoin behaves more like a speculative asset than a traditional safe haven, but it can act as a weak diversifier under certain market conditions. In a similar vein, Ji, Bouri, Lau, and Roubaud (2021) use time-varying spillover models and show that Bitcoin's hedging properties fluctuate significantly, with greater hedging effectiveness during tranquil periods rather than during crises. Professor Coin: Can Bitcoin Replace Gold? Conclusion: Value from Code, Community, and Belief Bitcoin's value emerges from a blend of engineering and economics: scarcity enforced by code, utility derived from decentralized consensus, and demand shaped by sentiment, costs, and macro conditions. It behaves like a commodity, a tech stock, and a speculative token—often all at once. That complexity is what makes Bitcoin both so fascinating and so difficult to value with traditional models. In the end, Bitcoin's worth is anchored not in what it does today, but in what its users believe it can become tomorrow. And as long as that belief persists—backed by utility, adoption, and incentives—the value may persist too. References Baur, D. G., Hong, K-H., Lee, A. D. (2018). Bitcoin: Medium of exchange or speculative assets? Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, 54, 177-189. Bolt, W., & van Oordt, M. R. C. (2016). On the Value of Virtual Currencies. Journal of Financial Stability, 17, 81–91. Cong, L. W., Li, Y., & Wang, N. (2021). Tokenomics: Dynamic Adoption and Valuation. Review of Financial Studies, 34(3), 1105–1155. Corbet, S., Larkin, C., & Lucey, B. (2020). The contagion effects of the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from gold and cryptocurrencies. Finance Research Letters, 35, 101554. Hayes, A. (2015). A Cost of Production Model for Bitcoin. Telematics and Informatics, 34(7), 1308–1321. Jahanshahloo, H., Irresbeger, F., Urquhart, A. (2025). Bitcoin under the microscope. British Accounting Review, forthcoming. Ji, Q., Bouri, E., Lau, C. K. M., & Roubaud, D. (2021). Dynamic connectedness and integration in cryptocurrency markets. International Review of Financial Analysis, 74, 101670. Kruger, P., Meyer, C., & Withagen, P. (2022). Is Bitcoin's Stock-to-Flow Model Valid? Finance Research Letters, 48, 102956 Liu, Y., & Tsyvinski, A. (2018). Risks and Returns of Cryptocurrency. NBER Working Paper No. 24877. Pagnotta, E., & Buraschi, A. (2018). An Equilibrium Valuation of Bitcoin and Decentralized Network Assets. Review of Financial Studies, 31(9), 3498–3531. Shen, D., Urquhart, A., Wang, P. (2019). Does twitter predict Bitcoin? Economics Letters, 174, 118-122. Urquhart, A. (2018). What Causes the Attention of Bitcoin? Economics Letters, 166, 40-44. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Report: Liverpool agree fee with Lyon as homegrown star heads for exit
Morton deal advances as Liverpool accept Lyon bid Liverpool have reached an agreement with Lyon for the transfer of midfielder Tyler Morton, with the player expected to finalise the move in the coming days. A five-year contract has already been agreed in principle, and Morton is due to travel to France to undergo a medical and sign his deal. Lyon will pay an initial €10 million, with a further €5 million available in performance-based add-ons. The structure of the deal reflects both Lyon's investment strategy and Liverpool's willingness to allow the player to pursue first-team football elsewhere. Although Morton has long been considered a promising graduate of Liverpool's academy, opportunities at senior level have been limited. His departure follows a series of similar exits this summer and further signals the club's ongoing reshaping of its homegrown core. Homegrown departures continue at Anfield Morton becomes the fourth homegrown player to leave Liverpool this transfer window, following the exits of three other academy-developed talents. That trend represents a shift in squad composition which raises questions over how the club intends to meet Premier League and UEFA squad requirements regarding locally trained players. Liverpool must maintain a balanced number of homegrown players within their squad to comply with regulations. Selling another one without an immediate replacement suggests the club are prepared to operate with a smaller registered squad – a strategy that offers financial efficiency but risks reducing depth. However, Morton was not expected to feature prominently in the upcoming campaign. While his technical quality and composure in midfield are valued, he faced stiff competition for places and did not feature heavily last season, even during injury crises. Lyon secure low-risk, high-upside signing For Lyon, the acquisition fits their long-standing model of recruiting talented young players who have yet to fulfil their potential. Despite Morton's limited recent playing time, the fee agreed is modest by modern standards, and the upside is considerable. Photo: IMAGO The French side believe Morton can flourish in a new environment and grow into a key part of their midfield. The club has been monitoring his progress for some time, and sources close to the negotiation have indicated that personal terms were swiftly agreed once Liverpool gave permission for talks. Morton's development in Ligue 1 could represent a turning point in his career, and his adaptability is viewed as a particular asset in a league known for producing and nurturing young talent. Liverpool's midfield plan remains fluid It remains to be seen whether Liverpool will move to replace Morton in the current window. The club have already made several high-profile additions and are believed to be satisfied with the current midfield options available to the manager. There is an understanding within the club that not every departing player needs to be directly replaced, particularly if they were not regular contributors. As such, Morton's exit may simply create space for emerging talents or tactical flexibility moving forward. Liverpool continue to explore options to fine-tune the squad, with further incomings and outgoings possible before the end of the window.
