Rolls-Royce announced that the Trent 1000 for Boeing's 787 received 330-min. ETOPS approval from US FAA. "ETOPS approval marks a major milestone for the Trent 1000 program," Program Director Simon Carlisle said in a statement, adding, "We now look forward to supporting Boeing's own ETOPS program." The Trent 1000 recently passed 2,800 hr. of flight testing.

Flydubai has inked an eight-year sale/leaseback agreement with MC Aviation Partners, securing $80 million in financing for the remaining Boeing 737-800NG the airline is due to receive this year. FZ will soon issue an RFP for the airline’s 2012 financing requirements. This will be the carrier’s 10th new 737-800NG aircraft, its final one to be delivered this year.

Boeing is considering a major upgrade or replacement for the 777 as well as the launch of the 787-10, according to a Buckingham Research Group report issued after Boeing Capital Corp.'s investor conference last week. "Upgrade options [for the 777] include a new composite wing, a composite fuselage, upgraded avionics, and new engines," said New York-based Buckingham. According to the firm, Boeing is looking at a 2020 timeframe for a 777 upgrade as it believes Airbus will be delayed in delivering the A350-1000.

Korean Air's first A380 flew on Wednesday in Hamburg for the start of a final phase of flight and ground tests by Airbus ahead of delivery later this month. KE will become the sixth operator of the A380 when it begins flying the aircraft in June, initially operating it from Seoul Incheon to destinations in Asia such as Hong Kong. It plans to later deploy A380s on long-haul services to North America and Europe.

Virgin Atlantic Airways expects further delivery delays of the 15 Boeing 787s it has on order and will be seeking compensation, Virgin Group Chairman Richard Branson said Wednesday in Australia on the sidelines of the event marking the rebranding of Virgin Blue to Virgin Australia (ATW Daily News, May 5).

Boeing's response to the A320neo is likely to be both a higher-performance 737NG ready by 2015 and an all-new aircraft, which will probably be a light twin-aisle entering service in 2019 or 2020, according to an assessment by Buckingham Research Group.

Jetairfly based a new Boeing 737-800 at Charleroi Airport, lifting its aircraft based at CRL to three narrowbodies supporting 18 destinations. The Belgian airline subsidiary of TUI Travel deploys a fleet of 16 aircraft on 120 routes. AmSafe Industries won a contract by to supply cargo restraint nets for Sukhoi SuperJet 100s. Aigle Azur took delivery of a new Airbus A320.

Royal Jordanian confirmed to shareholders that its first Boeing 787 delivery is now scheduled for the first-quarter 2014. It was originally scheduled to take delivery of its first Dreamliner last September and now hopes to receive three in 2014 and eight in 2016 and 2017.