Pratt & Whitney Canada is prepared to launch a next-generation turboprop engine for an aircraft in the 90-seat range next year for EIS in 2016, according to VP-Marketing Richard Dussault.

Boeing said it rolled out the first 777 to be produced since it raised the production rate for the type from five to seven per month.

GECAS announced it will deliver a total of 20 new leased aircraft to China this year, representing an investment of $7 billion in the country. It will deliver 11 new Boeing 737s, two new 777Fs, and seven new Airbus A320s in 2011, representing a 10% increase of its leased portfolio in China, it said. Lufthansa took delivery of its seventh Airbus A380, scheduled to begin daily Frankfurt-San Francisco operations May 10. The carrier has ordered a total of 15 A380s.

Fokker Technologies confirmed Friday to ATW it signed an MOU with COMAC. The agreement was signed Thursday in Shanghai by COMAC President Jin Zhuanglong and Fokker Technologies CEO Sjoerd Vollebregt. It would not confirm any further details. According to Dutch News Service NIS New Bulletin, the partnership covers “the development and supply of components for planes.”

Air Lease Corp. signed long-term lease agreements for 29 aircraft with Asian airlines. China Eastern Airlines will lease 10 new Airbus A320-200s and five new Boeing 737-800s, for delivery in 2012 and 2013, in a transaction valued at approximately $700 million. It will also acquire from CEA three 767-300ERs, two under lease with MIAT Mongolian, for delivery in May and November 2011, and one to Orient Thai Airlines for delivery in August 2011.

Chile-based LAN Airlines confirmed to ATW it reached a deal with Boeing for the purchase of five 767s, plus options for four more, in a deal valued at $870 million. Delivery is scheduled between December 2012 and August 2013, LAN said. A Boeing spokesman told ATW, “We look forward to finalizing this order for five 767-300ERs in the very near future. This order will bring LAN's total 767 order count to 40.”

China Southern Airlines said in a filing with the Shanghai Stock Exchange that subsidiary Xiamen Airlines will order six Boeing 787s to facilitate its international expansion. The order, which is not yet final, is valued at $1.1 billion at list prices, but the carrier will pay "significantly" below list prices, the filing said. Deliveries are slated for 2014-15. Xiamen GM Che Shanglun said the carrier plans to use the Dreamliners to launch routes to Europe and the US from its Xiamen base and Fuzhou.

Dunlop Aircraft Tyres won a five-year contract with Icelandair Technical Services to supply new tires and provide retreading for a fleet of 16 Icelandair aircraft and 12 757-200s "flown by airlines in the Nordics and Russia," it said.