Airbus is taking recent criticisms of the A350 from some key customers to heart. Responding to questions from reporters at the opening of a new facility in Toulouse Monday, CEO Gustav Humbert said, "We are listening to the customers...We have every reason to go the extra mile and study all our options intensively," according to Bloomberg News. Last week, Singapore Airlines CEO Chew Choon Seng said Airbus should have "designed a new fuselage" for the A350 (ATWOnline, April 11).

Cuba signed a deal on behalf of Cubana de Aviacion for the purchase of two new Il-96-300s and three Tu-204s, according to press reports. Aircraft will be delivered this year and next and cost $250 million, 15% of which will come from the Cuban government with the rest financed by Russian banks.

Boeing announced late yesterday the signing of a general purchase agreement with China Aviation Supplies Import and Export Group for 80 737NGs, completing a deal launched last November with a commitment for 70 737s made at the Dubai Air Show (ATWOnline, April 11). Fifty of the 70 aircraft eventually were booked the following month, with the remaining 20 ordered in January. The airframer said it would finalize agreements for the distribution of the new aircraft order with individual Chinese carriers in the coming weeks.

The factions within Airbus that are pushing for a redesign of the A350 gained another ally in Singapore Airlines CEO Chew Choon Seng. Last month, ILFC Chairman and CEO Steven Udvar-Hazy, whose company ordered 12 A350s in November, stunned the aviation world when he called on Airbus to abandon its A350 design (ATWOnline, March 30), based in large part on the A330, and build an all-new aircraft with a new fuselage and wing to compete with the clean-sheet 787.

Boeing is expected to sign contracts shortly with Chinese airlines for 80 737s. The deal is the second part of an order announced late last year for 70 737s (ATWOnline, Nov. 22, 2005). Hainan Airlines will take 15, China Southern Airlines 10, Xiaman Airlines five and Shandong Airlines six, with the balance taken by Air China, China Eastern Airlines, Shanghai Airlines and Shenzhen Airlines. Airbus secured a similar commitment for 150 A320s last year but apparently signed a contract with CAAC, listing the orders as part of the year's record-breaking sales.