Aviation Partners Boeing announced that Alaska Airlines has become the first carrier to operate a 737-900 with blended winglets. It expects to retrofit its -900 fleet by late next year. Continental Airlines and KLM also have ordered winglets for their -900s. APB said EASA certification is expected in early 2008.

Airbus and French authorities launched an investigation Friday into an accident involving an A340-600 carrying out engine runup tests at the manufacturer's Saint-Martin site near Toulouse ahead of the aircraft's scheduled delivery to Etihad Airways. The jet, carrying nine people, apparently crashed through a barrier. Photographs show the badly damaged A340, bearing Etihad livery, nearly split in two, with the destroyed cockpit and nose area of the fuselage mostly severed.

Aer Lingus said it signed a contract with Airbus for six A330-300Es and six A350-900 XWBs. The order was announced in June (ATWOnline, June 7). EI holds also six A350 options.

ATR signed an MOU with Mexican carrier Aeromar for two PW127M-powered ATR 72-500s. Value of the agreement is more than $36 million, ATR said. The aircraft will be equipped with the Elegance cabin and IFE.

Industry experts discussed the challenges of current weather radar systems and how weather impacts airlines on a daily basis in the ATWOnline webcast "Not Your Father's Radar: How current technology is reducing training costs." The webcast, available here, focused on weather hazard detection and highlighted wide variances in weather radar training for pilots. Speakers also detailed new technology that can better decipher weather data and provide clearer information to pilots.

Ethiopian Airlines will wet-lease two GE-powered 747-200Fs from US-based Southern Air. First aircraft will arrive Nov. 17 and be leased for 14 months; second will arrive Dec. 31 and fly for ET for 19 months. The aircraft will fill the gap until it takes delivery of two MD-11Fs, the first in December 2008 and the second in August 2009. The first 747F will fly daily Addis Ababa-Brussels from Nov. 8, becoming twice-daily at year end. On Jan. 4, ET will launch weekly Hong Kong freighter service, becoming the first African carrier to fly the route. It also operates two 757 freighters.

Nile Air, a startup Egyptian airline that plans to launch operations in the 2008 first quarter, placed a firm order for nine A321s valued at nearly $800 million and signed an MOU "to base its future fleet on the A321," Airbus said. The Cairo-based carrier plans to serve Riyadh, Jeddah, Medina, Dammam, Kuwait, Dubai, Doha and Bahrain with passenger and freight service. "The A321 is the perfect solution to provide our required balance between volume, cost efficiency and return on investment," Nile Air Chairman Nasser A. Al-Tayyar said.

Adria Airways, a regional airline based in Ljubljana, placed a firm order yesterday for two CRJ900s and one CRJ1000 collectively valued at $122.7 million. Adria currently operates seven CRJ200s and two CRJ900s.