Japanese manufacturer Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp. is close to finalizing a refined design for the MRJ70, the shorter version of its MRJ regional jet, and by the end of June, two additional MRJ90 prototypes will be ready for MRJ flight testing, Mitsubishi Aircraft president Hisakazu Mizutani said.

The Russian chairperson of the Chinese-Russian commercial aircraft consortium (CRAIC) board expects the consortium to receive initial orders for its CR929 widebody airliner no earlier than 2023—a differing assessment compared to the late-2019 timing recently suggested by the Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China (COMAC), the Chinese partner in the program.

Air Mauritius received the first of two Airbus A330-900s it has on order at Airbus’s Toulouse final assembly plant April 18; the aircraft are provided under contract with US-based Air Lease Corp. (ALC).

Boeing has taken several major steps toward completing upgraded 737 MAX maneuvering characteristics augmentation system (MCAS) flight control law software in recent days, giving the company confidence that it is “making steady progress” in its bid to get the grounded MAX fleet operating again, its top executive said.

Officials from French aerospace industry association GIFAS are predicting the ongoing safety crisis around the Boeing 737 MAX will cause certification costs to increase.