Nigerian startup Arik Air took delivery of two CRJ900s yesterday in Montreal, becoming the first operator of the aircraft in Africa. The order was announced last month (ATWOnline, May 9).

Singapore Airlines kicked Airbus while it was down yesterday, announcing that it signed a letter of intent to purchase 20 787-9s plus 20 options.

SITA and Airbus announced a new service "to issue and load software (and more generally any dataset) onto A380 aircraft" that SITA said will ensure "data integrity and the identity authentication of the supplier." SITA noted that there are more than 40 function (hardware/software) suppliers in the Airbus supply chain and 1,400 individual software programs on the A380. It will provide and manage the certification process while acting as registration authority for users.

US National Transportation Safety Board is investigating an uncontained engine failure on an American Airlines 767 that occurred during a ground maintenance test run on June 2 at Los Angeles International. According to NTSB, the HPT stage one disk on the number one GE CF6-80A2 broke into several pieces that "were found embedded in the fuselage, the number two engine, and scattered as far 3,000 feet from the airplane." The ensuing holes in the wings caused fuel leaks that resulted in a ground fire that was extinguished by airport firefighters. There were no reported injuries.

Airbus said yesterday that it "disagrees" with ICAO's interim recommendation that there be 10 nm. of separation between the A380 and aircraft landing behind it. Speaking at the company's annual technical press briefing in Toulouse, Senior VP-Flight Division Claude Lelaie described the ICAO position as "not reality." He said Airbus's own extensive testing reveals that heavy aircraft need to be separated from the A380 by just 6 nm. on approach to avoid complications from its wake vortex, or 1 nm. more than currently is required for aircraft flying behind 747s on approach.

Airbus yesterday revealed that A380 launch customer Singapore Airlines will receive its first aircraft too late in the year to place it into service in 2006, as SIA had hoped. The airframer also said that the A380 delivery schedule will undergo a shift of "six to seven months" and that "production ramp-up issues" likely will limit 2007 deliveries to just nine aircraft rather than around 20 as previously planned. A further shortfall in deliveries of 5-9 aircraft is expected in 2008 and approximately five in 2009.

Atlas Blue of Morocco took delivery of its first 737-800, the start of its plan to expand its fleet to 24 aircraft by 2012. The LCC, launched in 2004 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Air Maroc, operates six 737-400s on international services from Marrakech and Agadir to destinations across Europe.

Airbus Chief Commercial Officer John Leahy said the "chaos" surrounding the A350 program is unprecedented and needs to be settled soon.