Korean Air said yesterday that it signed a $300 million deal with Boeing to supply nose wheels for the 787, according to Reuters. KE placed an order for up to 20 Dreamliners in April and earlier agreed to supply wingtips for the aircraft.

EasyJet and Airbus announced yesterday that the LCC will exercise 20 A319 options that were part of a three-year-old deal for 120 firm orders and 120 options. The carrier will pay approximately $900 million for the 156-seat aircraft, to be powered by CFM56-5s. They will be delivered in 2008 and 2009. EasyJet already operates 59 A319s. The remaining 61 included in the original order are expected between now and 2008. The airline said that "the terms of payment are substantially the same as those for the purchase of the first 120 aircraft."

Boeing appears to be finalizing the business case for the 787-10 just one week after Qantas's order for the 787-8 and 787-9HGW versions (ATWOnline, Dec. 15). The increase to an MTOW of 255 tons for the 787-9 gives it the range of the dash 8 and the weight for an effective additional stretch, taking seating capacity up to that of the 777-200ER. The increase has been a requirement of Emirates, the principal catalyst behind development of the dash 10.

TAM yesterday confirmed its A350-900 order announced at the Paris Air Show (ATWOnline, June 17), increasing the number of firm orders to 10 from eight and decreasing the number of options to five from seven. Deliveries of the three-class aircraft will begin near the end of 2012. "The A350 is the ideal solution for our long-haul network development," TAM President Marco Bologna said. The airline will be the A350's launch customer in Latin America. It already is the region's largest Airbus operator.

Xiamen Airlines confirmed an order for 10 737-800s, Boeing announced, and will begin taking delivery of the aircraft in mid-2006. The carrier operates a fleet of 25 737s and nine 757-200s from hubs in Xiamen, Jinjiang, Wuyishan, Hangzhou and Nanchang. The airframer said the order, part of a 70-aircraft commitment made by the Chinese government last month (ATWOnline, Nov.

Ryanair pared its schedule for the first quarter of 2006 because of a one-month delay in the delivery of four 737-800s. The aircraft, delayed owing to last fall's strike by assembly line workers at Boeing (ATWOnline, Sept. 5), will arrive in April to replace dash 200s scheduled to be removed from service this month. The older aircraft already have been sold, the carrier said. The schedule cuts will reduce monthly traffic by 200 departures and an estimated 100,000 passengers during January, February and March.

Last week, CR Airways was a little-known Hong Kong-based Regional airline flying a trio of CRJs to destinations in China and the Philippines, but it is on the map now thanks to a multibillion-dollar MOU with Boeing covering orders for 10 787s (ATWOnline, Dec. 20) and 30 737-800s.

Allied Air of Nigeria will add a second 727-200F to its fleet this month.