On the eve of next week's Farnborough International Airshow, Airbus still has not presented a formal offer on the revised A350--dubbed the A350N--to key customer Emirates. An airline spokesperson confirmed to ATWOnline that "no formal offer has been made," which some say indicates that the manufacturer is some ways away from firming up its revised A350.

Pratt & Whitney named United Technologies Corp. VP-Corporate Strategy and Development Todd Kallman as president of its Commercial Engines division effective immediately. Kallman, 50, succeeds Steve Heath, who is retiring. Kallman held his position at UTC since 2003 and oversaw more than 50 acquisitions totalling $8.4 billion, including Chubb, Kidde, Lenel, Linde and Rocketdyne. He worked at Lockheed Martin for 14 years before joining UTC in 2001 as VP-finance and CFO of Hamilton Sundstrand.

ANA is moving forward with plans to build its fleet around twin-engine aircraft with the sale of six of its 23 747-400s to Avion Aircraft Trading of Iceland. The aircraft are configured for both domestic routes (569 passengers) and international operations (from 287 passengers). ANA has been replacing the dash 400s on domestic routes with 777-300s seating 477 passengers. It is moving to smaller types such as the 777, 767 and 787 because of the addition of a second runway at Tokyo Narita and a planned fourth runway at Tokyo Haneda, which has reduced the requirement for larger types.

Rolls-Royce began construction on its new outdoor jet engine testing facility at NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. Rolls will test the Trent 900 and Trent 1000 at the facility, where work is expected to begin in the second half of 2007. It will spend $42 million on construction and upgrades. Separately, GE Aviation announced a partnership with the Mississippi Development Authority to pursue establishing a jet engine component facility in the state that would open in 2007-08 and produce composite fan blade platforms for the GEnx.

Dubai Aerospace Enterprise, created by Dubai last February with a goal of becoming a $15 billion diversified aerospace corporation, announced yesterday that former Honeywell Aerospace Chairman and CEO Bob Johnson has been named CEO. Johnson, 58, served as president and CEO of Honeywell between 1999 and 2005 and subsequently was named chairman of the unit. Prior to becoming CEO, he headed AlliedSignal Aerospace. AlliedSignal acquired Honeywell in 1999 and took the Honeywell name. Johnson began his career at GE Aircraft Engines in 1969.

Boeing has upped its 20-year forecast of world jet transport demand in its latest Current Market Outlook, released yesterday. The manufacturer now sees a requirement for 27,200 new aircraft valued at more than $2.6 trillion through 2025. Last year it projected a need for 25,700 aircraft worth $2.1 trillion (ATWOnline, June 9, 2005).

In the second fatal airplane crash in Asia in as many days (see item below), a Pakistan International Airlines F27 turboprop departing Multan en route to Lahore crashed minutes after takeoff yesterday, killing all 41 passengers and four crew onboard.

Boeing customers who want to put a multicolored livery on the engine nacelles of their 787s or add a logo will have to forgo the option or accept a performance penalty.