BUSINESS MEMO:

NEW YORK -- Despite Boeing's plans to shelve development of a superjumbo jet, rival Airbus Industries said it is proceeding on schedule and should be ready to launch the mammoth plane next year.

Boeing Co. said last week it was mothballing plans to develop the larger and longer-range versions of its workhorse 747-400 jumbo jet because it didn't have enough orders to justify the $7 billion project.

But a spokesman for Airbus in Herndon, Va., said that even though Boeing didn't see a market for 500-seat planes, Airbus continues to develop its own superjumbo, called the A3XX. The airplane should be launched in 1998 and enter service in 2003.