Aergo Capital Limited and ASL Aviation Group reached a sale and purchase agreement under which ASL will acquire aircraft assets valued at $250 million. It will take ownership of "various Irish aviation leasing entities" including Safair Lease Finance Limited and Safair Operations and will acquire five 737-800s, five A300 B4 freighters and three ATR 72-500s. The acquisition is expected to be finalized by the end of November.

LOT Polish Airlines subsidiary EuroLOT is in talks with ATR and Bombardier regarding an order for 14 ATR72-600s or Q400s, respectively, and a further six options to renew its ATR fleet, EuroLOT President and CEO Leszek Sieluk told ATW on the sidelines of the European Regions Airline Association AGM in Barcelona late last week.

Norwegian Air Shuttle announced Friday it plans to order wide-body aircraft as it gears up to begin its first long-haul flights in 2011. CEO Bjoern Kjos told Bloomberg that the carrier held talks with Airbus and Boeing and will choose between ordering the A350 or 787. Because there are delivery backlogs for both aircraft, Kjos said Norwegian may agree to take older models such as the A330 or 767. According to Bloomberg, the carrier is planning its first routes from Oslo Gardermoen and Stockholm Arlanda to New York JFK and Bangkok respecitvely in the second half of 2011.

JetBlue Airways and ViaSat on Thursday signed an MOU to equip the carrier's fleet of more than 160 Embraer 190s and A320s with an inflight broadband product they called "the first of its kind" in commercial aviation. The two parties intend to sign a definitive agreement by the end of the year.

Rockwell Collins was selected by COMAC to provide the "cabin core system" for the C919 under a letter of intent signed Tuesday. The CCS will allow flight attendants" to control all subsystems on the aircraft including in-flight entertainment, passenger connectivity, lavatory, heating/cooling and lighting." RC said it will team with Shanghai Aero Measurement-Controlling Research Institute, which will provide design, development and integration support, and Cobham, which will supply the public address system.

Cathay Pacific firmed up its previously announced commitment for six more 777-300ERs worth HK$12.5 billion ($1.61 billion) at list prices (ATW Daily News, Aug. 5).

Estonian Air signed a contract for the delivery of three CRJ900NGs between early 2011 and 2012. The contract replaces the original agreement with Bombardier that was announced in March 2008.

Airbus announced that Malaysia Airlines firmed options for two A330-200Fs, doubling its orderbook for the freighter variant of the twinjet. The aircraft will be powered by Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engines and will be operated by Malaysia's cargo subsidiary, MASkargo. Delivery dates and value of the deal were not released.