Farnborough Airshow News Briefs

Vietjet Air signed an MoU with Airbus for 20 A330neos, making this the first widebody deal for the Vietnamese LCC. The A330s will be powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engines with a range of 7,200 nm (13,300 km). 

The Saudi Arabian General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) and Lilium signed an MoU to develop and implement the required regulations for eVTOL operations in Saudi Arabia, beginning in 2026. The partnership will start by setting up a joint working group preparing the regulations in Saudi Arabia for the introduction of regional electric air mobility.

GE Aerospace and National Airlines signed an engine sales agreement for eight GE90-110B engines to power four Boeing 777F freighters. The aircraft order was announced at the show Monday. The GE90 is the exclusive engine for the 777F.

GE Aerospace and Japan Airlines (JAL) announced an order for GEnx-1B engines to power the up to 20 Boeing 787-9s that JAL confirmed this week after placing an MoU earlier this year. JAL was the launch airline for GEnx-powered 787s and now operates 53 Dreamliners.

Japanese airline company ANA Holdings announced an order with De Havilland Canada for seven additional DHC-8-400 turboprops. The aircraft will be modified to match the specifications of ANA Group’s existing DHC-8-400 fleet and deliveries will begin in 2025.

Lilium announced a digital suite of flight planning and electronic flight bag solutions for its all-electric eVTOL Lilium Jet, which has a planned entry into service of 2026.

GE Aerospace and the US Department of Energy announced a cooperative research & development agreement on supercomputing that would expand GE’s capabilities in next-generation aircraft engine design, such as Open Fan.