Gol placed its 49th and 50th 737s into service yesterday and revised its fleet plan for 2006-08, adding two 737-700s this year, one next year and another in 2008. The additions follow a more extensive fleet plan revision announced last month (ATWOnline, May 18).

China Eastern Airlines yesterday announced the signing of an agreement to buy 30 A319s/A320s, part of the 150 A320 family aircraft ordered by China's government last year (ATWOnline, Dec. 6, 2005). The aircraft will be delivered in 2008-10 to the Shanghai-based carrier and will be used for domestic services.

Copa Airlines this month will take delivery of a 737-700 and two 94-seat, GE CF34-10E-powered Embraer 190ARs, bringing its fleet to 27 aircraft. The 737 will be operated on Copa's Montevideo route while the RJs will be used on flights to Santiago de los Caballeros, Manaus, Maracaibo, San Pedro Sula and Port of Spain.

Boeing has sold 132 747-400s and 747-8s since the beginning of 2000--the timeframe in which the A380 has been offered in the marketplace--including last week's Cathay Pacific order for six 747-400ERFs (ATWOnline, June 23). While the A380 had its industrial launch in 2001, Airbus was gathering MOUs and LOIs through 2000 from Emirates, ILFC and Air France before Singapore Airlines and Qantas committed to the aircraft in late 2000.

With its share/management restructure with Dragonair bedded down, Cathay Pacific Airways moved quickly to expand its freighter fleet with an order for six 747-400ERFs that takes up all the remaining slots for the standard 747. The PW4062A-powered aircraft are scheduled to arrive between May 2008 and April 2009. They will be deployed on routes to North America.

Twin Otter operated by Yeti Airlines crashed in Nepal June 21 while apparently attempting a go-around near Jumla. All nine persons onboard were killed, according to the Aviation Safety Network. The aircraft was en route to Jumla from Nepalganj after an intermediate stop in Surkhet. Jumla is situated in the mountains at an elevation of 9,400 ft. (2,875 m.). The crash occurred on a mountainside to the east of the airport.

Boeing is coming under growing pressure to boost capacity on the 747-8 Intercontinental by two seat rows as airlines start to look at it as a possible alternative to the A380 rather than a model positioned between the 365-seat 777-300ER and 555-seat A380. Increasing the length of the dash 8 to that of the 747-8F adds 20 seats. Moving galley carts into the overhead space would add another 30, lifting seating capacity to 500 in the standard Boeing configuration compared to 416 for the 747-400 using the same rules. Currently the passenger variant has a 3.6-m.

Syrian Arab Airlines plans to order up to four Tu-204s and two Il-96s. According to RIA Novosti, Syrian Minister of Transport Yarub Sulayman Badr was traveling to Moscow Tuesday to examine details of the deal. "The Russian offer is very attractive and looks optimistic," he said, adding that the carrier needs more capacity.