Boeing will decide in the next couple of months whether to ramp up 737NG production, Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Scott Carson said. The narrowbodies were built at a monthly rate of 27.5 in 2007. Carson, speaking yesterday at an investors conference, said he soon will review a company analysis on 737 production in recent months to assess both Boeing's own production capabilities and market demand. "It feels like there might be. .

GKN Aerospace announced delivery of the first blended winglet for 737-300/-500 aircraft ahead of schedule. In April, GKN finalized a multiyear agreement with Aviation Partners Boeing covering the supply of 200 737-300/-500 blended winglet sets as well as the design and production of 300 sets of 11-in. winglets for the 767-300ER.

Iridium Satellite said Avianca Airlines selected Avionica's Iridium-based satLINK Communications Module for its 14 757s and 767s. Technology offers voice and data capabilities to complement radio cockpit communications.

Atlantic Airlines signed long-term lease agreements with BAE Systems Regional Aircraft for an additional six ATP freighters, which will bring the UK cargo carrier's fleet of the type to 11. The aircraft will be converted at by Romaero in Bucharest, with delivery of all six by the third quarter.

Blue Air, Romania's first LCC, placed an order for two 737-800s plus two purchase rights valued at $150 million at list prices, Boeing announced. The airline has a 787-800 arriving on lease later this year. "We have doubled our passenger traffic every year since starting our operations [in December 2004]," GM Gheorghe Racaru claimed. It currently operates one 737-500, two 737-400s and two 737-300s. Separately, Blue Air will launch thrice-weekly Bucharest Baneasa-Berlin Schoenefeld on March 31.

Continental Airlines yesterday placed its first Q400 into service at its Newark hub. CO said the 74-seat turboprop is ideal for the airport "as it will allow more extensive use of alternative approach and departure routes and will enable flight operations at lower altitudes." Colgan Air, a subsidiary of Pinnacle Airlines, will operate the aircraft as Continental Connection.

Hawaiian Airlines was able to sign definitive purchase agreements for six A330-200s and six A350 XWB-800s, plus purchase rights for six of each, following the conclusion of "key labor agreements" with its pilot and cabin staff unions. A dispute with pilots had threatened to scuttle the up-to-$4.4 billion deal (ATWOnline, Jan. 21). HA said it now will endeavor to lease additional aircraft for entry into service in the 2009-12 period.

EgyptAir is evaluating a follow-up order for several A320 family aircraft after the last of its 12 737-800NGs are delivered in 2009. The carrier also plans to phase out its three A340-200s when six ordered 777-300ERs arrive starting in February 2010. "Our oldest A320s should also leave the fleet. But we are in talks with Airbus to renovate seven younger A320s with new cabin interiors," Chairman and CEO Sherif Saad Eldin Galal told ATWOnline in Cairo.