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Airbus on Monday fattened an order for its new A320neo jets and Boeing snagged another customer for the 787 at the Dubai Airshow as Mideast buyers showed they remain bullish despite the uncertain global economy.

The deals, which followed a record $18 billion airplane order from Dubai airline Emirates the day before, added ammunition to forecasts from the two major aircraft manufacturers that predicted the region will continue to generate hundreds of billions of dollars in demand for new planes for years to come.

European manufacturer Airbus predicted Monday that the Middle East will require some 1,920 new planes worth more than $347 billion through 2030. It estimates Mideast passenger numbers will grow 6.4 percent annually _ well above the predicted world average increase of 4.8 percent.

Boeing thinks the potential market is even bigger. Its own forecast, released shortly after its rival’s, puts Mideast demand at 2,520 planes worth $450 billion by the end of next decade.

Much of the growth is driven by fast-growing Gulf airlines, which have boomed in recent years by funneling long-haul travelers through expanding global hubs like Dubai and the Qatari capital Doha.

In terms of deals, Airbus scored the biggest prize of the day, boosting an existing commitment from Kuwait’s Aviation Lease and Finance Co. for the A320neo to 50 planes. The leasing firm, known as ALAFCO, also took options to buy another 30 of the planes.

The deal extends an initial agreement signed by ALAFCO at this summer’s Paris Le Bourget show, when it agreed to buy 30 of the narrow-body planes.

The A320neo offers a new engine option and other features designed to use 15 percent less fuel than older models of the single-aisle A320. It is scheduled to enter service in 2015.

The deal, before options, is worth about $4.6 billion at list prices, though buyers typically negotiate discounts.

Leasing companies like ALAFCO rent out planes to airlines, so the carriers don’t have to assume the costs and risks of owning all the planes in their fleets. It leases planes mainly to regional airlines in the Middle East and Asia.

Boeing Co., meanwhile, picked up a new regional customer for its much-hyped 787.

It and Oman Air said the carrier ordered six Boeing 787-8 aircraft, though the twin-engine planes won’t translate into additional business for the Chicago-based plane maker. That’s because Oman Air is taking over orders previously placed by ALAFCO.

Each 787-8 costs $193.5 million at list prices.

ALAFCO Chairman Ahmed al-Zabin said the decision to shift the 787 orders to Oman Air represented an extension of the company’s view that it is a “strategic partner” for Boeing in the region. It previously announced plans to lease the planes to the Omani carrier.

“Whatever is good for us and Boeing and the customer, we just do it, and that’s what you’re seeing,” he said when asked about the Oman Air deal.

Japan’s All Nippon Airways operated the first commercial flight of the 787 late last month following a series of manufacturing delays. The plane is made of lightweight composite materials and promises to be 20 percent more fuel-efficient than similar planes.

Long lines of curious spectators have lined up in Dubai to step aboard a 787 display model, which is making its debut at the Mideast airshow.

Oman Air is the flagship carrier of the Sultanate of Oman, located on the southeastern tip of the Arabian Peninsula. The airline, set up in 1993, is far smaller than Gulf behemoths such as Dubai’s Emirates and Qatar Airways.

Qatar Airways is among the regional carriers that have already signed up for the Dreamliner. It has ordered 30 of the planes and has options for 30 more. The carrier is expected to announce additional aircraft orders at this week’s show.

Its Dubai-based rival Emirates, the region’s biggest carrier, on Sunday placed an unexpectedly large order for 50 more Boeing 777s, signaling it remains optimistic about its ambitious growth plans despite the shaky global economy.

Boeing said the deal, worth $18 billion at list prices, was its biggest-ever single order by value.

In an interview Monday, Emirates airline President Tim Clark said the carrier would have “no problem” filling those new planes and the nearly 190 other aircraft it has ordered. It helps that the latest batch of 777s won’t begin to be delivered until 2015, giving the world economy time to recover.

“We’ve always been fairly bullish, and that is reflected in the size of the order and the value of the order. We’ve always taken a long-term view in regards to what is happening in the global economy. And we still take that view,” Clark said.

Clark said Emirates needs the extra planes to keep up with passenger demand and cope with marathon flights that can last more than 14 hours, as it pursues its strategy of linking far-flung cities through Dubai.

The carrier is increasingly focusing on emerging markets in Asia, Africa and Latin America, which Clark said older airlines have long shied away from. Over time, he expects bilateral ties between those regions to grow, producing even more business for carriers like Emirates.

At the same time, Clark said Emirates plans to expand its presence in Europe and the U.S. even further. The carrier already flies to Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York and Houston, and it recently announced plans to add service to Dallas and Seattle.

Other cities on Emirates’ radar for possible future expansion are Chicago, Washington, Detroit and Atlanta, Clark said.

“There’s more coming,” he noted. “It’s just a question of timing.”

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TORONTO

It was a passengers’ nightmare at Bradley International Airport in Hartford, Conn., this weekend.

Passengers on three JetBlue planes and one American Airline plane say they were stranded on the tarmac for seven hours or more after being diverted from New York-area airports.

The ordeal continued after they were let off and had to spend the night on cots and chairs in the terminal.

A passenger on one of the diverted JetBlue planes says the crew ran out of snacks and bottled water for the last few hours of the delay.

“The toilets were backed up. When you flushed, nothing would happen,” said Andrew Carter, a reporter for the Sun Sentinel of Florida, who was traveling to cover the Miami Dolphins game against the New York Giants. His plane took off from Fort Lauderdale for Newark Liberty International Airport at around 9 a.m. After being diverted to Hartford, the plane sat on the tarmac between around 1:30 p.m. and 9 p.m., he said.

A representative for Bradley International was not available to comment on the scope of the tarmac delays at the airport.

A JetBlue spokeswoman, Victoria Lucia, confirmed in an emailed statement that six of its planes, carrying a total of about 700 passengers, were diverted to Hartford as a result of a “confluence of events” including equipment failures at Newark and New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport that prevented planes from landing in low visibility.

She declined to specify how long the planes sat on the tarmac at Bradley, but noted that 17 other flights with different carriers were also diverted to airport.

Once the planes landed at Bradley, Lucia said that intermittent power outages at the airport made refueling and deplaning difficult.

Kate Hanni, executive editor for FlyersRights.org, said she got calls and emails from passengers and worried family members regarding at least four flights that were stranded on the tarmac for up to 10 hours.

Brent Stanley and his wife were on one of those planes, an American Airlines flight that had originally been headed to JFK after taking off from Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris.

After being diverted and landing in Hartford at 2:30 p.m., Stanley said passengers were given various reasons for being held on the tarmac, including the need to refuel and de-ice and the airport’s limited capacity for handling international flights. He and his wife were eager to get back home to their two young sons in Lake Zurich, Ill. But they realized they didn’t have it as bad as the parents who had infants on the plane.

“There was a lady in front of us with an 18-month-old daughter,” Stanley said. “Another woman came by to borrow diapers because we couldn’t get to our luggage.”

After spending the night at the airport, Stanley was lucky to find two seats Sunday on an afternoon flight home to Chicago. But the headache isn’t over yet; his luggage was headed to JFK because the Hartford airport crew wasn’t able to handle international luggage, he said.

An American Airlines spokesman, Ed Martelle, said the passengers weren’t allowed off the plane by customs at the airport. Martelle did not know the exact number of American planes that were diverted to Bradley or how long they sat on the tarmac personal business card.

Matt Shellenberger, who was on a JetBlue flight from Boston to JFK, said his plane was diverted to Bradley International and sat on the tarmac for seven hours.

The crew picked up trash regularly and handed out water and snacks and “everyone held their cool,” he said. But his frustrations grew with each status update; the reasons for the delay kept changing as the hours passed.

Early on, passengers were told that the plane was just being refueled and would fly out soon, Shellenberger said. Then they were told it was being de-iced. Then there was an emergency on another plane.

“We were told we were the third plane in line to get to the gate when we landed,” he said. “Then we stayed on the plane for seven hours.”

Carter of the Sun Sentinel, who was on another JetBlue flight, reported a similar sequence of updates.

The saga continued long after passengers were let off the plane.

The power outages from storms throughout Connecticut made booking hotel rooms difficult. As a result, many passengers just slept at the airport, Carter and Shellenberger said in separate interviews.

When they awoke, hundreds of passengers had to wait in line for hours just to figure out which flight they’d be on.

“That was most disappointing part,” Carter said. “It seemed like there was no plan when we got off the plane.”

In the morning, Carter said he and several other passengers rented a van to drive to New Jersey rather than wait for the afternoon flight JetBlue had scheduled to Newark.

It’s not the first time JetBlue has had problems with tarmac delays. The New York-based airline also made headlines in 2007 when snow and ice storms stranded its planes for nearly 11 hours at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport.

Such high-profile delays helped prompt a regulation last year that fines airlines for holding domestic flights on the tarmac for more than three hours. This year, the rule was extended to apply to international flights that are held on the tarmac for more than four hours.

The Department of Transportation often doesn’t enforce the fines to their full extent unless delays are extreme, however. Passengers also do not get a cut of the fines.

Low-cost carriers are more prone to tarmac delays because letting passengers off planes can cost an airline a lot of money, said Hanni of FlyersRights.org.

If a plane is diverted because of a reason within the airline’s control, such as a mechanical failure, ticket contracts usually state that passengers will be reimbursed for hotels, food and transportation. That means airlines do everything in their power to keep passengers on board in hope that the plane will be able to take off again.

JetBlue said that passengers who were diverted to Bradley International would be reimbursed for their fares and hotel expenses.

A representative for the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, which oversees Newark and JFK airports, could not immediately say how many total flights were diverted to other airports because of equipment failures.

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Stocks gained steadily Monday on a round of corporate takeovers and reports that Europe’s bailout fund will be larger than anticipated. The Dow Jones industrial average was up nearly 130 points in the late afternoon. The Nasdaq composite index turned positive for the year.

Mattel and J.M. Smucker were among companies that rose after announcing acquisitions.

Investors are still waiting for a resolution to Europe’s debt problems. European leaders said they made progress at a weekend summit and plan to unveil concrete plans for containing the crisis by Wednesday. The Dow was up about 40 points in the first hour of trading but moved steadily higher through midday following reports that Europe’s takeover fund will be greatly expanded.

“The market is expecting that there will be some kind of deal worked out Wednesday,” when European financial ministers are scheduled to meet, said Uri Landesman, president of Platinum Partners. “If there’s not a deal by then, the market is going down significantly.”

Even with concerns about Europe, U.S. companies are still reporting bigger profits. “Although there is a good deal of economic and political uncertainty in the world, we are not seeing it much in our business at this point,” Caterpillar Chief Executive Doug Oberhelman said.

The maker of construction equipment reported a 44 percent surge in income, more than Wall Street analysts were expecting, thanks to strong growth in exports. The company said it expected the global economy to continue recovering, albeit slowly.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 126, or 1 percent, to 11,934 at 3:10 Eastern. Caterpillar jumped 5 percent, the most of the 30 companies in the Dow.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index gained 17 points, or 1.4 percent, to 1,256. The Nasdaq composite rose 64, or 2.4 percent, to 2,701. The gains turned the Nasdaq positive for the year. The S&P 500 is the only major market index that remains lower than where it started the year.

The Russell 2000 index of small companies rose 3 percent as investors moved money into higher-risk assets.

Strong earnings reports from McDonald’s Corp. and other big U.S. companies last week drove the Dow Jones industrial average to its third straight weekly gain. The S&P 500 finished the week at its highest level since Aug. 3, just before Standard & Poor’s downgraded the U.S. government’s credit rating.

Other major U.S. companies due to report earnings this week include UPS Inc., Ford Motor Co. and Procter & Gamble.

Analysts expect companies in the S&P 500 to report earnings growth of 14 percent for the third quarter, according to data provider FactSet. They expect a 10 percent gain in revenue.

Expenses are also expected to climb. Higher costs for raw materials helped drag down income 8 percent at Kimberly-Clark Corp., which reported results Monday. The stock fell 5 percent. The company is a major consumer products maker whose brands include Huggies and Kleenex.

Higher costs also hurt cigarette maker Lorillard, which reported a 3 percent drop in income. Lorillard’s stock fell 0.8 percent.

A series of corporate deals helped lift the market, said Phil Orlando, chief equity strategist at Federated Investors. “This is telling us that companies think stocks are cheap, and they’re willing to spend some of the cash that’s sitting around on their balance sheets,” he said.

Deals announced included:

_ HealthSpring Inc. jumped 33 percent after Cigna Corp. said it will buy the health insurer for about $3.8 billion in cash. Cigna fell 0.4 percent.

_ RightNow Technologies Inc. gained 19 percent after Oracle Corp. said it will buy the tech service company for about $1.5 billion. Oracle rose 0.8 percent.

_ Mattel Inc. rose 2 percent after it agreed to buy Hit Entertainment, the owner of the Thomas & Friends and Barney brands, for $680 million in cash.

_ The J.M. Smucker Co. added 1 percent after it bought most of Sara Lee Corp.’s North American foodservice coffee operations for about $350 million.

Asian and European markets rose earlier Monday after Japan said its exports grew for a second straight month in September and a report showed China’s industrial production returned to growth in October. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index rose 1.9 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 4.1 percent and South Korea’s Kospi index rose 3.3 percent.

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Young Innovations Inc. raised profits in the third quarter despite sales that were little changed.The Earth City-based developer and maker of dental equipment reported a net income of $4.1 million, or 51 cents a share, compared to $3 Internet Payday loans.9 million, or 49 cents, a year ago. Sales edged down 0.9 percent to $26.2 million.

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Switzerland’s leading chocolate makers are trying to convince their countrymen to embrace quality over quantity.

The chocolatiers from around the Alpine nation have gathered in Geneva to show off their finest wares to consumers already spoiled for chocolate choice.

On Sunday, thousands lined up outside the venue in a converted hydropower station to get a taste.

Tibor Luka, one of the organizers of Switzerland’s first chocolate salon, says 24 master chocolatiers have been invited to explain the fine points of cocoa quality and flavoring free 3-in-1 credit report.

The aim is to teach visitors to think about chocolate the way they would about wine.

Switzerland has the highest per capita consumption of chocolate in the world, with about 26.5 pounds (12 kilograms) per person each year.

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Stocks rose in early trading Thursday on strong retail sales news and encouraging reports about corporate profits. The Dow Jones industrial average was headed for its best week over the last five.

Retail sales increased 1.1 percent in September, the biggest gain in seven months and twice what economists projected. Retail sales are a key barometer of consumer spending, the biggest contributor to economic activity.

Google Inc. surged more than 6 percent after reporting that its online advertising and search dominance helped third-quarter profits rise 26 percent.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 101 points, or 0.9 percent, to 11,579 at 10:02 a.m. Eastern time. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 13, or 1.1 percent, to 1,218. The Nasdaq composite index rose 32, or 1.2 percent, to 2,653.

The Dow is up 4.2 percent for the week, putting it on track for its best week since the week ending Sept. 16.

Apple Inc.’s new iPhone goes on sale today. Record-setting early orders for the iPhone 4S showed why the company has thrived despite the weak economy. Apple shares rose more than 2 percent before the market opened.

European markets extended an eight-day rally despite an overnight downgrade of Spain by Standard & Poor’s and warnings from Fitch about big banks. Food and soap company Unilever PLC announced a major acquisition, and Swiss agrochemicals firm Syngenta reported strong third-quarter sales.

Retail sales are the government’s first look at consumer spending each month. Consumers account for 70 percent of economic activity. If they cut back, a recession is more likely. When they spend more, economic growth is more likely.

Google reported late Thursday that its third-quarter revenue was one-third higher than last year. It was Google’s fourth consecutive quarter of year-over-year revenue growth. Google is doing well because of the reach of its search engine and the effectiveness of its ads.

The government also said Thursday that businesses added to their stockpiles for the 20th consecutive month while sales rose for a third straight month. The increase suggests businesses remained confident enough to keep stocking their shelves.

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CUPERTINO, CALIF./NEW YORK—Computer buffs and admirers of technology rushed to Apple shops from New York to Australia on Thursday to mourn Steve Jobs, praising him as a visionary who transformed the daily activities of countless millions.

Flags outside Apple’s headquarters at 1 Infinite Loop in Cupertino, California, flew at half mast as mourners gathered on a nearby lawn. Distraught Apple fans left flowers and a man played the bagpipes.

“In my mind there is no difference between him and a Pasteur,” said Chitra Abdolzadeh, a healthcare worker in Cupertino, in reference to French chemist Louis Pasteur. Photos: Fans say farewell outside Apple stores Olive: Apple’s best days are in the past

Ben Chess, 29, an engineer at an Internet company and a former Apple intern, drove to the Apple HQ from San Francisco after work to lay a bunch of flowers. “It’s the right thing to do,” he said.

Jobs, who died on Wednesday aged 56, overturned the way users browse the Internet by giving them the iPod, iPhone and iPad. He had stepped down as chief executive of the world’s largest technology company in August.

Computer fans in China seemed particularly moved.

“I came here to see how they’ll operate on the first day after they had lost Steve Jobs,” Jin Yi, 27, said in China’s biggest Apple store in Shanghai, which opened last month.

“I also came here to mourn in my own way. It is such a pity today. He created these gadgets that changed people’s perceptions of machines. But he did not manage to witness the last step in which, through his gadgets, people’s lives can be effectively fused with these machines.”

In Hong Kong, Charanchee Chiu laid a single sunflower and white rose in front of the city centre Apple store.

“I am sad. I think he should have lived longer,” he said, acknowledging that he had sent messages to Jobs to advise him on health and Tai Chi, the Chinese form of martial arts reputed to improve practitioners’ well-being.

At the downtown San Francisco Apple store, people held pictures of Jobs aloft on iPads and taped greeting cards and post-it notes to the store window saying “thank you Steve” and “I hate cancer.” Candles and red apples were placed outside.

Store employee Cory Moll described Jobs as a personal inspiration. “We’re lucky to have had him for as long as we did,” said Moll, holding an iPad displaying a quote in memorial to Jobs.

“What he’s done for us as a culture, it resonates uniquely in every person. Even if they never use an Apple product, the impact they have had is so far-reaching.”

Across the country in New York City, an impromptu memorial made from fliers featuring pictures of Jobs was erected outside a 24-hour Apple store on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue, with mourners snapping photos of it on their iPhones.

“We will miss you Steve, RIP. Thank you for your vision,” read one flier.

Business professor Gary Hamel said he left for the store as soon as he found out about Jobs’ death.

“As soon as I heard the news, I came out to this Apple store to pay my respects,” he said, clutching the power cord he had just bought inside. “I saw tears in some people’s eyes.”

Outside an Apple store in New York’s SoHo neighborhood, two men laid candles, bouquets of flowers, an apple and, for a while, placed an iPod Touch on the ground.

At a Boston store, student Angelos Nicolaou said Jobs had “inspired us to be rebels and challenge the status quo. I hope there will be more leaders like him. It seems like the world is running out of them.”

In Sydney, Australia, lawyer George Raptis, who was five years old when he first used a Macintosh computer, made his way to the glass-panelled Apple store when he heard the news.

“He’s changed the face of computing,” he said. “There will only ever be one Steve Jobs.”

Some of those who flocked to Apple stores when they heard of Jobs’ passing were thinking of Apple’s future without its co-founder. The company named Tim Cook as its new CEO at the end of August when Jobs stepped down.

“They had a lot of time to prepare for the transition,” said Guilherme Ferraz, 44, a Brazilian businessman outside a Manhattan Apple store. “Tim Cook will continue his legacy.”

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ST. LOUIS 

Gunmen wearing military-style uniforms broke into the house of a pro-government Sunni militiaman early on Wednesday and killed five members of his family, including three children, Iraqi officials said.

A police official said the gunmen shot the women and children as they were sleeping in their home in Abu Ghraib, a Sunni-dominated area that used to be a haven for al-Qaida in Iraq.

Seven other family members were wounded in the attack. The militiaman, Hameed al-Zobaie, was not in the house at the time of the attack, the police official said.

A medical official in a nearby hospital confirmed the casualties. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.

Police said the gunmen likely were targeting al-Zobaie, who is a member of the Iraqi Sahwa, or Awakening Councils personal loans for bad credit. The group joined forces with U.S. troops at the height of the Iraq war to fight al-Qaida. Ever since then, it has been a target for Sunni insurgents who call its members traitors.

Insurgents have stepped up attacks in Iraq recently as the U.S. military prepares to withdraw from the country by the end of the year.

In an earlier attack, a car bomb exploded near a popular restaurant in a Shiite neighborhood in southwestern Baghdad late on Tuesday night, killing three people and wounding 10 others, police said Wednesday.

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