The most aggressive expansion program in airline history was launched when the first of Emirates' 58 A380s flew from Dubai to New York JFK as EK3801, the first of a series of commercial flight trials. Pushback came about two years and 2 min. late at 11:02 a.m., but passengers still appeared plenty excited by the images on their seatback video screens that showed the giant jet lifting effortlessly into the sky from the vantage point of a camera mounted atop the tail.

TAM took delivery of two A319s and two A320s last week, along with an additional A320 on lease and two leased 767-300s. Its fleet now comprises 116 aircraft (17 A319s, 76 A320s, three A321s, 12 A330s, two A340s, two 767-300s, three MD-11s and one F100). It intends to operate 123 aircraft at year end. It will take two more A330s and four 777-300ERs that will replace its MD-11s.

United Airlines' decision to ground all of its 737 Classics in the coming months, a total of 94 aircraft (ATWOnline, June 5), is expected to have a significant impact on lease rates for the type, Genesis Lease Ltd. CCO Cian Dooley confirmed. Speaking to ATWOnline at the recent Farnborough Airshow, Dooley said he "would not be surprised to see Classic lease rates drop 10% over the next 12-18 months." Rates for A320s older than 10 years also may be affected.

Hawaiian Airlines parent Hawaiian Holdings, benefiting from a legal settlement with Mesa Air Group and the abrupt collapse of two competitors, posted second-quarter net income of $54.3 million, reversed from a net loss of $3.9 million in the year-ago period.

Lufthansa Group yesterday released details of its second-quarter performance, confirming both the €345 million ($541.6 million) profit that fell 21.2% year-to-year and the significant contributions of its Swiss International Air Lines subsidiary. Group revenue rose 20% to €6.47 billion and operating profit slipped 6.2% to €530 million from €565 million in the second quarter of 2007.

Rockwell Collins will provide Airbus with information management and navigation capabilities for A350 XWBs under a deal announced yesterday. Contract calls for RC's Information Management Onboard solution and includes a standard Class 2 electronic flight bag interface and provision of a hardware platform and system software and integration. RC also will provide navigation system components for A350s, including ADF-900, DME-2100 and VOR-900.

Airbus parent EADS reported first-half net income of €403 million ($632.7 million), a better-than-fivefold increase over a €71 million profit in the year-ago period, but said that owing to the declining value of the US dollar it will unveil a revamped restructuring plan later this year called Power8Plus.

Serbian government yesterday announced a tender for 51% of Jat Airways, the Associated Press reported. Buyers must be registered in Serbia or the EU and have until July 31 to submit a bid for the stake, which may rise to 75% following negotiations with the winner. Jat's assets are valued at €162.6 million ($255.7 million) and its debt is €247.4 million, according to the tender (ATWOnline, July 21).