Frontier Airlines yesterday finalized its February deal with Airbus for six new A320s and the conversion of eight existing A319 orders into four A318s and four A320s (ATWOnline, Feb. 24). The carrier also will acquire three additional A319s from leasing companies, Airbus announced.

Jeju Air of South Korea took delivery last week of the first of five 74-seat Q400s. It holds options for an additional three Q400s.

Manufacturers of regional aircraft booked orders for nearly 300 airplanes last year, among them just a handful of jets in the 40/50-seat class. That's hardly surprising. Interest in new CRJ200s and ERJ-135s/-145s has been trending downward for the past few years. After all, with more than 1,700 in service, the industry's appetite has been pretty well satisfied.

In 1960 on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the DC-3, a British aviation magazine showed a cartoon of two executives overlooking a production line of DC-3s with the caption "It's a DC-3 replacement."

China Airlines played down suggestions that it is to become the launch customer for the 747-8 Intercontinental passenger version. According to Taiwan's Economic Times, the carrier will place a $2.5 billion order in June for 10 dash 8s. However, an airline spokesperson cautioned that "we are still evaluating options." Boeing is keen to secure orders for the passenger version of the 747-8, which was launched late last year by Cargolux and Nippon Cargo.