Indian low-cost carrier SpiceJet has ordered 42 Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, worth $4.4 billion, as part of its plans to modernize the fleet and find a potential investor. The country’s second-largest low-cost airline by market share expects to start taking delivery of the aircraft from 2018. “We will fund the acquisition through the sale-and-leaseback mode,” says S.L. Narayanan, group chief financial officer at Sun Group, the parent company of SpiceJet, soon after signing the deal at the India Civil Aviation Airshow in the southern city of Hyderabad.

India has put on hold all defense contracts with Rolls-Royce following allegations that the company paid bribes to win lucrative contracts to supply Hawk advanced trainer jet engines to state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL), a defense ministry official says. Not only is the decision a serious blow to the aircraft engine-maker, but it also threatens to delay upcoming Indian air force purchases and impact other existing programs.

NEW DELHI — Airbus Defense and Space sees an opportunity to promote C295 tactical airlifter sales to India through the Indian air force’s requirement for 56 transport aircraft to replace its aging fleet of Hawker Siddeley HS 748s. “The C295 is ideal for India, as it has the lowest-cost lifecycle of any aircraft in its category and is highly versatile, proven all around the world as a tough, reliable and high-performing workhorse,” Christian Scherer, head of marketing and sales at Airbus Defense and Space, told Aviation Week.