Air France KLM Group has finalized an order for 25 Boeing 787-9s, with options. The order, which was signed in late December, was previously attributed to an unidentified customer on Boeing’s orders and deliveries website.

KfW IPEX-Bank has been mandated by Air Lease Corp. as arranger and sole lender for a seven-year commercial debt financing of one new Airbus A330-200 leased to Vietnam Airlines. The transaction closed Dec. 22.

Spirit AeroSystems has delivered its first composite center fuselage section for the Airbus A350 XWB. The upper and forward lower shell composite fuselage panels were joined in Spirit's Saint-Nazaire, France, facility before being delivered to Airbus. Spirit won a contract with Airbus in May 2008 to design and produce Section 15 of the A350 XWB's composite fuselage. The first center-fuselage panels were shipped from Spirit's North Carolina facility to Spirit's Saint-Nazaire facility in October.

Hainan Airlines’ subsidiary Hong Kong Airlines (HX) has placed a firm order for 10 A380s, according to widely published reports. According to Bloomberg, the order is valued at about $3.8 billion at list prices. The Hong Kong-based carrier will reportedly receive the first A380 in 2015. An Airbus spokesperson told ATW the manufacturer will not comment on the order before its annual press conference Jan. 17.

Taipei-based TransAsia Airways is considering an order for more than two Airbus A380s to facilitate its international expansion to the US over the next few years.

Boeing delivered 477 commercial aircraft in 2011 and ended the year with 805 net orders and a backlog of 3,771 unfilled commercial orders, the manufacturer said.

Air France (AF) has completed the installation of its premium economy cabin on six Airbus A380s, extending the new intermediate class on almost all of its long-haul fleet and network covering 67 destinations.

Boeing will close the Wichita, Kan., facility where it converts commercial airliner frames into military aircraft by the end of next year, the company announced Wednesday.