Southern Air Holdings, parent of Connecticut-based ACMI freight carrier Southern Air, took delivery of two 777-200LRFs yesterday that will be operated on behalf of Thai Airways. The aircraft are the first of the type to join the Southern fleet, which consists of 16 747Fs.

Russia's United Aircraft Corp. reported 2009 revenue of RUB114 billion ($3.81 billion), an 18.1% increase from the prior year, as sales of commercial aircraft rose 8.7% to RUB12.5 billion. It manufactured 17 commercial aircraft last year and delivered 14, comprising four Il-96s, five Tu-204s, three Tu-214s and two An-148s. Customers included Rossiya, Transaero Airlines, Polet Airlines, Cubana de Aviacion and Air Koryo. The other three aircraft are new Sukhoi Superjet 100s that are involved in the ongoing testing and certification process. UAC delivered nine commercial aircraft in 2008.

Esterline CMC Electronics' PilotView Class 2 electronic flight bag was granted an STC by EASA for the A320. STC was developed by Aeroconseil in Toulouse. Launch airline is Air Mediterranee.

Finnair Flight AY022 from Delhi to Helsinki today is the airline's final scheduled passenger flight aboard an MD-11. The type served Finnair for nearly 20 years and flew some 400,000 hr. on more than 50,000 segments. It became the first airline to operate the MD-11 in December, 1990 and had up to seven at one time. It now uses A330s and A340s on its long-haul routes. It has two owned MD-11s up for sale and is considering using the aircraft for cargo operations.

ILFC announced the following aircraft lease deals: Two new A320-200s to Air France for six years each (delivery in May and June); one 737-500 to Georgian Airways for three years (delivered in January); one used 767-300ER to GMG Airlines of Bangladesh for six years (delivery in March); two 737-400HGWs to Enter Air of Poland for three years each (delivery in March and April).