Northwest Airlines today will complete the retirement of the DC-10 from its transatlantic network, leaving its Minneapolis-Honolulu service as the only route operated with the aircraft (ATWOnline, June 29). It will begin using an A330 on that route on Jan. 7. It earlier deployed an A330-300 on its daily Memphis-Amsterdam service, replacing the DC-10-30 used on the route. From Nov. 26 the route will be operated with a 243-seat A330-200.

WestJet announced the finalization of a short-term lease with Singapore Aircraft Leasing Enterprise for four 737-700s and one dash 800 for delivery in 2009. The deal includes an option for three additional dash 700s and one dash 800, plus the ability to convert dash 700s to dash 800s, and remains "subject to a number of conditions," the carrier said. "One of our continued strategic drivers is ASM growth through fleet expansion," President Sean Durfy said.

Emirates President Tim Clark reinforced the push for a major revision of the A350 XWB first revealed by ATWOnline last week (ATWOnline, Oct. 25), telling media that "Airbus would have to go beyond the current design of the A350 if it wants to win [EK's] order," Reuters reported.

Emirates appears to have confirmed speculation that it will cancel its order for 10 A340-600s plus 10 options (ATWOnline, June 22). President Tim Clark told reporters at London Heathrow that EK is unhappy with the aircraft and that the order has been taken up by a third party, according to AFP, while AFX News quoted an EK spokesperson as saying the A340-600 "didn't deliver what it set out to deliver in the blueprint.

Air China said it posted a CNY3.3 billion ($417.5 million) profit in the third quarter ended Sept. 30. The carrier did not provide a comparison to the year-ago quarter but said its "stable growth was attributable to the favorable turnaround in the industry that was driven by the drop in international oil prices, an upward adjustment of fuel surcharges and the continued appreciation of the [yuan]."

Lufthansa selected the Trent 700 to power the five A330s it ordered last month (ATWOnline, Sept. 21). The $300 million deal includes a TotalCare long-term services agreement. Deliveries begin in the first quarter of 2008.

ANA will exercise two of four 767-300BCF options with delivery by March 31, 2010, bringing the number of firm orders to five. The aircraft will be operated by ANA&JP Express on domestic services as well as short- and medium-haul Asian flights. ANA's order launched the dash 300BCF program last year (ATWOnline, Nov. 1, 2005).

Airbus received much-needed boosts from opposite sides of the world yesterday as the Chinese government and an Ohio-based startup placed large aircraft orders.