Air France will take delivery of its 54th 777 Friday. The aircraft is the 777th 777 produced by Boeing and will be the first AF aircraft to feature its new livery (ATWOnline, Feb. 13).

Rolls-Royce signed a contract with Saudi Arabian Airlines for provision of Trent 700EPs to power up to 12 (eight firm and four option) A330s ordered at last year's Farnborough Airshow (ATWOnline, July 15), with deliveries beginning in 2010. Contract is valued at up to $900 million at list prices and includes a long-term TotalCare services agreement. SV already operates 14 Rolls-powered 747-100s -200s, -SPs and -300s, but this marks the first time it has selected the Trent.

Lufthansa Technik said C&D Zodiac selected its onboard floor proximity lighting system, Guideline ColourFit, for installation onboard the CSeries.

Russian Technologies, the state-owned controller of the newly established, Moscow Vnukovo-based Russia Airlines (ATWOnline, Oct. 24, 2008), plans to order 150-200 aircraft starting next year, RT head Sergei Chemezov said, according to Reuters. According to Chemezov, "Boeing has promised to help us find credit in the US. From next year we would like to start buying airplanes. . .The most important question is where [we can] get the money."

ATR has had serious discussions with airlines and suppliers about producing a larger turboprop and has found "a lot of interest" in the manufacturer's building a bigger aircraft than the 70-seat ATR 72, Head of Sales John Moore told ATWOnline. "We are certainly looking at that market and have had some very positive feedback from airlines that they do see a need for a larger capacity turboprop," Moore said yesterday. "There are a growing number of routes where the 70-seat turboprop is too limited."