Spirit Airlines selected the IAE V2500 to power three A321s. The deal, including a long-term fleet hour agreement, was valued at more than $50 million by IAE. The A321s are in addition to 15 firm orders already placed by Spirit, according to IAE. The Florida-based LCC also has options on 47 aircraft and plans to lease an additional 20 A320 family aircraft.

China Southern Airlines said it finalized an earlier commitment for 10 787s, part of a commitment from six Chinese airlines for 60 Dreamliners announced in January. The first 787 will be delivered to China Southern in July 2008, one month prior to the start of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing. The remaining aircraft will be delivered through 2010. Last month, China Eastern, Air China, Shanghai Airlines and Xiamen Airlines said they had signed up for 42 787s (ATWOnline, Aug. 9), leaving only Hainan Airlines to consummate an order for six.

The 100-seat Embraer 190 powered by GE CF34 engines received type certification from Brazilian certification authority CTA "on schedule," Embraer said yesterday, moving it one step closer to delivery to launch customer JetBlue. US FAA is expected to follow shortly with its own type certification. JetBlue has 100 firm orders for the aircraft with another 100 options.

Volga-Dnepr Group, Antonov Design Bureau and Aviastar-SP Aircraft Factory signed an agreement at the Moscow Air Show to establish a branch of Antonov Design Bureau at the Aviastar-SP factory in Ulyanovsk. Earlier this week, Volga-Dnepr said it would acquire five An-124s (ATWOnline, Aug. 25). It called the new agreement "another significant step towards relaunching serial production of the 150-tonne capacity An-124 cargo aircraft."

AirTran Airways will retrofit Aviation Partners Boeing blended winglets on 15 737-700s leased from GE Commercial Aviation Services, with options to add winglets to future deliveries of new 737s. Installation will begin in September and continue into early 2006. In a recent interview with ATWOnline, AirTran Senior VP-Operations Stephen Kolski explained the decision to add the devices beginning with a small number of aircraft.

Volga-Dnepr Group and Vnesheconombank, described as one of Russia's oldest financial institutions, concluded an agreement regarding financing arrangements for the resumption of An-124-100 production and the IL-76 freighter modernization program. The long-term cooperation agreement was signed in Moscow by Vladimir Dmitriyev, chairman of Vnesheconombank, and Volga-Dnepr Group President Alexey Isaikin. The companies said that as part of the agreement, the bank will participate in the financial analysis for Volga-Dnepr Group projects.

Dublin-based RBS Aviation Capital, a unit of Royal Bank of Scotland, has ordered 20 737NGs, according to Boeing's orders website. RBS was established in 2001. Boeing also lists one new 737NG sold to an unidentified customer.

Boeing listed orders for three 747-400s on its website but did not identify the customer. The order comes on the heels of a UPS order for eight 747-400Fs and takes the year's total net of cancellations to 18. The 747 backlog now stands at 38, which will bridge production to delivery of the proposed 747 Advanced if it is launched. Cargolux has placed a provisional order for 10 747ADVs and Boeing is expected to confirm the go-ahead of the program in September.