SAS Group said Finnish subsidiary Blue 1 will phase out its remaining five Avro RJ-85 aircraft and focus on operating Boeing 717s. The phase-out of the Avro fleet is expected to start in August 2011 and will result in a maximum of 85 job redundancies at Blue1, SAS said in a statement. SAS said it will close of a number of European destinations and will make some capacity adjustments on Finnish domestic routes. At the same time, a Tampere-Copenhagen route will be opened.

Alcoa has developed new aluminum-based sheet, plate, forgings and hard alloy extrusion solutions for the aerospace market, which it said will provide "dramatically lighter and lower-cost short-range airplanes" than their "composite-intensive" counterparts. The new aluminum-based products combine new alloys and advanced structural technologies, and could increase fuel efficiency by up to 12%, the company estimated—even up to 27% when combined with new engines.

AVIC announced that the Chinese regional turboprop MA700 is expected to make its first flight in 2016. The MA700, the stretched version of the 60-seat MA600, features increased seating capacity for 70-90 passengers. The MA700 introduces a high-efficient, six-blade propeller and a T-tail empennage that makes the aircraft faster than its predecessors (ATW Daily News, June 26, 2008).

Kenya Airways received compensation from Boeing for the delay of its Dreamliners, although the amount does not fully cover the expenses associated with the delay, Group Finance Director Alex Mbugua told ATW on the sidelines of an investors briefing in Nairobi earlier this month.