Cathay Pacific Airways CEO Tony Tyler said the airline is not close to making any decision on acquiring A380s, 787s or A350 XWBs, noting that orders placed today likely would mean deliveries not occurring for five years or longer. "I don't think we are comfortable ordering that far ahead on a new aircraft type," he told Reuters. "I don't think we'll be making any decision on any of these aircraft for at least two years. .

Airbus CEO Tom Enders and CCO John Leahy told reporters yesterday at a press conference in New Delhi that the manufacturer is in talks with Air India regarding a potential A380 order. "We are in discussions with Air India now and we think they would need about 10-12 A380 aircraft as soon as we can deliver them," Leahy said, according to multiple media reports. He said delivery could take place by 2011 if an order is placed soon. Enders added that it was "not an accident" that he traveled to India with Leahy. "India is one of the most important growing markets for us," he said.

Rockwell Collins' HGS-4200 Head-Up Guidance System was chosen by Eurowings for its CRJ700s. Deliveries began in September.

Ryanair took delivery of five new 737-800s, including its 150th of the type. The LCC, which phased out its last 737 Classic in January 2006, operates the second-largest 737 fleet in the world behind Southwest Airlines. It has an additional 121 737s on order.

Following three incidents involving faulty landing gear on Q400 aircraft, SAS Group decided to remove its 27 turboprops from service permanently owing to safety issues as well as concerns about its image and financial health. The latest incident occurred Oct. 27 when the right main landing gear failed to extend fully on a flight into Copenhagen. No injuries were reported among the 40 passengers and four crewmembers onboard.

Boeing's board approved a new share repurchase plan under which the company plans to buy back up to $7 billion worth of its common stock. The planned repurchase is in addition to approximately $8 billion of its stock it has bought back since 2004 and follows a $3 billion buyback approved by the board in August 2006. The company also yesterday declared a quarterly dividend of 35 cents per share payable Dec. 7 to shareholders of record as of Nov. 9.

ILFC and Airbus confirmed that the lessor has ordered 20 A350 XWBs valued at $4 billion. The order was reported earlier this month (ATWOnline, Oct. 22), but confirmation did not come until Friday. It provides a boost to the next-generation aircraft program, particularly considering ILFC Chairman and CEO Steven Udvar-Hazy's public criticism of the initial A350 design (ATWOnline, Oct. 25, 2006).

TAM on Friday took delivery of an A340-500, its first of the type, and said it will use the aircraft to launch daily service between Brazil and Frankfurt from Nov. 30.