An Airbus plane with 99 on board crashed into a residential area of the Pakistani city of Karachi on Friday while on approach to the airport, with at least one passenger surviving but many others feared dead, officials said.

Qatar Airways yesterday announced that it has resumed service to Erbil and Sulaymaniyah in Iraq. The airline had suspended service to both routes in November 2017, per the Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority’s directive to all international carriers at the time.

The AirAsia group, which has already ordered A330s and A350s, has been exclusively linked to Airbus planes but industry experts say Boeing 787s could fit into its long-haul operations.

The potential A320 order, which had not been previously announced, would be worth more than $18bn at list prices.

European planemaker Airbus said on Thursday that net profits fell 17% to €1.5bn ($1.8bn) in the first half of the year due to problems with the engines for the new version of its top-selling A320 jet.

Airbus signed a firm contract on Thursday for the sale of 100 aircraft to Iran Air, as Tehran and Western companies race to reopen trade almost a year after sanctions against Iran were lifted.