Aug 8 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories on the business pages of British newspapers. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

The Times

Serious Fraud Office launches criminal inquiry into Airbus

Britain's Serious Fraud Office has launched a criminal inquiry into alleged fraud, bribery and corruption in relation to commercial jet sales by Airbus, the European aircraft maker disclosed on Sunday. The formal investigation comes after Airbus admitted in April that it was in talks with the SFO over the use of third-party agents in aircraft deals which it was asking the British government to cover with financing guarantees. http://bit.ly/2b5rq6P

Chinese line up 7 billion stg swoop on Holiday Inn

Anbang Insurance Group Co, a secretive conglomerate with a sprawling empire of top hotels and leisure assets, has held talks with City bankers about a potential takeover bid of InterContinental Hotels Group Plc. http://bit.ly/2bcIFiq

The Guardian

Third Heathrow runway would push up air fares, say campaigners

Passengers would be forced to pay substantially higher air fares if a new runway was built in the southeast and Britain kept to its carbon targets, according to an analysis of the Airports Commission's backing for a third runway at Heathrow. A report published by the Campaign for Better Transport claims that carbon pricing, a measure the commission suggested could be needed to ensure British aviation emissions remain on target, would add hundreds of pounds to air fares by 2050, spelling the end of low-cost flights. http://bit.ly/2b6dpCu

UK's top bosses received 10 pct pay rise in 2015 as average salary hit 5.5 mln stg

The bosses of Britain's largest public companies earned an average of 5.5 million pounds last year, and have enjoyed a 10 percent pay rise while wages in the rest of the economy lag far behind. Rapid inflation for the country's best-paid executives is being driven by a small, all-male group at the top of the corporate tree, according to the High Pay Centre, which published its annual survey on earnings at FTSE 100 companies on Monday. http://bit.ly/2bcSIUN

The Telegraph

Chinese eye Aspinal after fall in sterling

Aspinal, the British leather goods brand, is being circled by Chinese and European buyers after the recent fall in the pound. The company, which has followed Mulberry's lead by naming its 1,000 pound handbags after celebrities, could be valued at up to 75 million pounds, City sources said. http://bit.ly/2aMYrzF

Sky News

Comparethemarket owner picks banks for 2 bln stg float

The owner of Britain's biggest price comparison site has picked a pair of Wall Street giants to oversee a stock market listing valuing it at up to 2 billion pounds. BGL Group, the parent company of Comparethemarket, has lined up JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley to take the lead roles on an initial public offering in the first few months of next year. http://bit.ly/2b4rGCW

Clydesdale Owner Joins Suitors For RBS Unit

The owner of the Clydesdale and Yorkshire banks is drawing up plans to buy more than 300 branches that Royal Bank of Scotland will sell to a rival after failing to carve them out into a standalone lender. CYBG has asked investment bankers at Morgan Stanley to help it explore a bid for an asset portfolio that would rank as Britain's seventh-largest bank. http://bit.ly/2aZ3LEE (Compiled by Rama Venkat Raman in Bengaluru; Editing by Bill Rigby)