AirAsia X plans to place an order next month for up to 15 A330-300s, The Financial Times reported Friday. The long-haul LCC, owned by FlyAsianExpress and spearheaded by AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes, had intended to launch in July but said last month it would push its start date back until the fourth quarter at the earliest owing to a lack of aircraft (ATWOnline, March 19). It initially will operate flights from Malaysia to a UK city and at least one Chinese city.

Niki, the Austrian low-cost carrier and Air Berlin partner, took delivery of its first CFM56-5B-powered A319 last week, the first A320 family aircraft fitted with Airbus's enhanced cabin that is derived from the A380 and features 15% more bin volume, more passenger space at shoulder level, enhanced lighting and noise reduction features. Onboard the delivery flight, President Niki Lauda told ATWOnline that the carrier continues to achieve 30% annual passenger growth.

Boeing will deliver two 737-700s to Nigerian startup Arik Air next month. It currently operates two -300s, seven CRJs and two turboprops.

Qantas will boost its domestic operation with nine new A320s to be delivered over a 15-month period from late 2007 and used by Jetstar. The company is girding itself for the arrival of Tiger Airways Australia, which aims to challenge QF with a low-cost product (ATWOnline, March 16). In addition, Qantas said four 767-300s used in international operations and scheduled to be sold instead will be transferred to domestic routes in the middle of this year.

Avianca Airlines placed a firm order for 10 787s valued at $1.5 billion, becoming the first airline in South America to order the aircraft. The Colombian carrier also holds purchase rights for 10 more 787s. Boeing previously credited the order to an unidentified customer in its listing of orders and deliveries and announced the order late Wednesday.

Thai Airways board announced approval of the sale of two A300-600s that will leave the fleet by June and the purchase of a 747-400 the airline has been leasing since 1997 when the contract expires in April 2008.

American Airlines yesterday said it will expedite both the delivery of the 47 737-800s it has on order and the replacement of a portion of its MD-80 fleet. It will take three aircraft in early 2009 that originally were scheduled to arrive in 2016 and "intends to continue pulling forward deliveries" from the current 2013-16 timeframe to 2009-12. It said it hopes to improve the entire fleet's fuel efficiency by more than 20% by 2020.

Bombardier Aerospace enjoyed a 21.1% increase in operating profit to $322 million for the fiscal year ended Jan. 31 thanks to robust sales of business aircraft and a renewed interest in turboprops. The parent company's net profit of $268 million represented a 7.6% rise over the $249 million earned in the previous 12-month period. Full-year revenue at Bombardier Aerospace rose 1.8% to $8.23 billion owing to the strength of the market for business jets, although revenue from regional aircraft fell 21.1% to $2.12 billion.