Airbus received formal approval from its shareholders, EADS and BAE Systems, yesterday for industrial launch of the A350 on the basis of 140 "firm order commitments" from nine customers, one of which is unidentified. In Washington, Airbus COO Charles Champion said the company is "confident" it will reach 200 commitments by year end, while Executive VP-Procurement Henri Courpron said that all 200 will be firmed within the same timeframe.

Russia lifted the ban on operation of Il-96-300 passenger jets, which were grounded for safety checks in August after problems with the braking system. Aeroflot, which has six of the 13 widebodies in use, or 40% of its long-haul fleet, said on Monday it will comply with the decision straight away. According to Reuters, first flights were scheduled for Tuesday to Shanghai and New Delhi. Aeroflot plans to acquire 12 A320s and 2-5 767s, it said last week. The Boeing planes are likely to be acquired in about a year.

EADS board is scheduled to meet Thursday to decide whether to support the launch of the A350, Les Echos reported last week. It noted that Oct. 6 is the last day of an agreement signed in 1992 between the US and EU that authorizes the four European state Airbus shareholders--Britain, France, Germany and Spain--to provide interest-free loans equaling up to 33% of the development costs of the program. The A350 program is worth more than €4.5 billion. To date Airbus has received agreements to purchase 110 aircraft and expects this to grow to 200 by year end.

Austrian Airlines will add a fourth 777-200ER to its fleet by December 2006. "This aircraft is a first replacement for our two A340-200s we just sold. And we can use the 777 as a backup for our Australia operations and as well when there is a need for higher capacity to destinations like Delhi or Bangkok," CEO Vagn Soerensen told ATWOnline. In an effort at further streamlining, Austrian plans also to sell its last 737-600 and three CRJ100s.

Continental Airlines selected General Electric's GEnx engine to power its recently ordered fleet of 10 787s, becoming the first North American customer for the powerplant on the 787. GE valued the order at more than $250 million. Deliveries are set to begin in 2009. The other customer for the GEnx on the Dreamliner is First Choice of the UK with six aircraft on order. The GEnx still is the exclusive engine being offered on the proposed A350 and GE and Airbus have signed agreements to transition to firm orders for 122 aircraft with seven customers.