Vietnam Airlines confirmed yesterday that it will acquire 12 additional 787-8s following Boeing's Monday announcement that the carrier had promised to "move forward" with additional acquisitions (ATWOnline, Oct. 2).

Lufthansa Technik Tulsa signed a five-year agreement with US Airways to provide technical support for thrust reversers on the airline's narrowbody Airbus aircraft.

Airbus yesterday announced that Vietnam Airlines signed an MOU for acquisition of 10 A350-900 XWBs and 20 A321s, while Boeing acknowledged that the carrier "has indicated its plan to move forward with additional [787] procurements."

CARGO TRAFFIC IS GROWING AT A steady clip and airlines are eager to acquire aging passenger aircraft for conversion to freighters. Demand is high. Slots for modifications have been reserved well in advance and are sold out at several conversion providers for the next couple of years. But there's one slight problem: A paucity of available, affordable used passenger planes to convert, placing conversion providers in something of a holding pattern.

After going ballistic around the spring of 2004, the make-or-break materials market has regained a semblance of balance of late, giving purchasing managersand OEMsa chance to catch their collective breaths. Better take a deep gulp, however; this could be merely the pause that refreshes. According to the AeroStrategy consultancy, spot prices for titanium sponge "increased by a factor of four in the first half of 2005, but started to weaken in late 2006 and early 2007."

SAS said the grounding of its fleet of 27 Q400s will begin to be lifted on Oct. 4 when its first aircraft of the type returns to service, with the remaining Q400s returning to operations during the following days.

Finnair selected GE CF6-80E1s to power seven A330-300s. The engines will be the first to incorporate the new HPT upgrade that is part of the Tech CF6 program. Engine delivery will begin in March 2009. GE valued the deal at more than $140 million.

Air New Zealand, Boeing and Rolls-Royce signed an MOU to conduct jointly what they claimed will be the first trial of a commercial 747 operated with biofuel. The test flight will take place in late 2008 or early 2009 using an ANZ 747-400. The aircraft will not carry passengers and only one engine will run on the blended biofuel/kerosene mix. While the flight may use biofuel sourced from around the globe, ANZ CEO Rob Fyfe told media that the airline is "keen to encourage research into alternative fuels in New Zealand."