Airbus is still comfortable about using lithium ion batteries on its A350 aircraft, which is under development, but has the option to return to conventional batteries.

Boeing has warned Norwegian Air Shuttle of possible delays in delivery of its first 787 due to problems with lithium-ion batteries and FAA grounding of the aircraft.

US FAA has given Boeing permission to operate 787 test flights to help determine why batteries failed and overheated on two in-service Dreamliners.

Villa Air, which operates as FlyMe, has taken delivery of one ATR 72-600 turboprop, on lease from GECAS. Villa Air operates two ATR 42-500s; it will use the new aircraft to expand services in the Indian Ocean archipelago. Copa Holdings has closed sale-leaseback transactions for four new Boeing 737-800 aircraft with SMBC Aviation Capital. The aircraft deliveries, which are part of Copa Airlines’ current order with Boeing, are scheduled for delivery in 2014.

Russia’s United Aircraft Corp. (UAC) plans to validate the Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SSJ100) certificate in India this year.

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has awarded the certification for the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB turbofan.

US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) chairman Deborah Hersman said assumptions made by Boeing and FAA to justify certifying 787 batteries “must be reconsidered.”

ST Aerospace has acquired a 35% stake in EADS EFW and plans to begin an Airbus A330 passenger-to-freighter (P2F) engineering development phase this month.