Q Investments, a Fort Worth-based private equity fund, is putting Q Aviation on the block and has retained Deutsche Bank Securities to advise it. The company said it owns 53 Airbus and Boeing aircraft recently appraised at $1.2 billion. According to the Ascend CASE database, 26 are listed under the Q Aviation LP name. They comprise eight A319s, 10 757s, four A320s, two A330s, one 737-400 and one 737-500, all of which are in service. The 737-500 is leased to Bulgarian Airlines and the remaining 25 are leased to Northwest Airlines and US Airways.

Lufthansa's Supervisory Board yesterday gave approval for the airline to order 35 Airbus aircraft valued at more than $3 billion, including five new A330s that will "compensate for the delayed entry into service of the A380," the German carrier said in a statement.

All Nippon Airways, which launched the 787 program with an order for 50, has chosen the industry's first commercial electric braking system, Goodrich announced yesterday. "We anticipated demand for an alternative to traditional, hydraulically actuated braking and began the pursuit of electronically actuated braking more than a decade ago," Goodrich Airframe Systems Segment President Jack Carmola said.

Russia's National Reserve Corp., a major stakeholder in Aeroflot, signed a preliminary agreement for 22 787s, according to Russian daily Kommersant, which reported that the airline has transferred rights on the 787s to the shareholder because Russian authorities have not yet approved the deal for Aeroflot.

BAE Systems, which earlier this month decided to sell its 20% holding in Airbus to EADS for €2.75 billion ($3.52 billion) (ATWOnline, Sept. 8), is suggesting that A380 customers may want to brace for further production backups.

ATR delivered its 700th aircraft to Air Deccan at a ceremony in Toulouse. The ATR 42-500 was the sixth delivered to the Indian LCC, which signed a contract last year for 30 aircraft.

Air Adriatic of Croatia plans to add a 757-200 to its fleet. The carrier operates five MD-82s and one MD-83 for charter services and plans to launch scheduled flights in the future.

Boeing's Composite Manufacturing Center last week began fabrication of the first composite stringers for the 787 vertical fin, the largest Dreamliner assembly slated to be built by an internal Boeing division. CMC plans to deliver its first fully functional vertical fin to 787 final assembly in Everett, Wash., in spring 2007.