US Airways confirms orders

US Airways has placed binding orders for 20 Airbus A350 planes, the European aircraft maker said yesterday. Airbus did not disclose financial terms of the deal, but the list price of the planes is an estimated $4.03 billion. Buyers of multiple planes often get discounts from the list price. The deal firms up a commitment announced in May by the Arizona-based airline, formed when the former America West Holdings Corp. acquired US Airways and adopted the US Airways corporate name.

Comments boost Consol

Shares of Consol Energy Inc. rose 3 percent yesterday after its chief executive officer said the company was considering a stock buyback and higher dividend. CEO Brett Harvey made the comments at an investor conference in New York, Reuters reported. The stock closed at $63.55, up $1.85.

Software firm picks CMU

Software firm 3Ksoft Co. Ltd. said it would locate its global headquarters and research and development operations on Carnegie Mellon University's campus. The company, now based in Seoul, South Korea, said it would have a 20-person work force and would create 15 local jobs in software, development, systems integration and marketing by March.

FDA approves Mylan drug

Mylan Laboratories said yesterday that it had received final approval from the Food and Drug Administration for a generic version of Sanofi-Aventis SA's diabetes treatment Amaryl. The approval covers tablets of glimepiride, the active ingredient in Amaryl, in 1-, 2- and 4-milligram doses. The treatment has annual U.S. sales of about $348 million, according to IMS Health.

Plextronics wins contract

Harmarville-based Plextronics has landed a $1.8 million research and development contract to use its "Plexcore" technology with members of the U.S. Display Consortium, a public-private partnership focused on expanding the flat panel display market. Member companies such as DuPont and Cambridge Display Technology, which produce flat panel displays for computers and televisions, will try out "Plexcore" conductive polymer ink in the development of flat panel displays.

Also in business ...

The average price of a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline at area self-serve pumps fell 2.5 cents to $2.126 this week from the previous week, AAA East Central reported.