Aircraft & Propulsion

Malaysia Airlines’ (MAS) first Airbus A380 returned to Toulouse Thursday following completion of interior furnishing and cabin system tests in Hamburg, Airbus announced.

Avolon announced it has acquired two new Airbus A321 aircraft, which will be delivered to US Airways later this year. Skyworld Aviation, working with Nineteen Hundred Aviation, has delivered one BAE Jetstream 31 to Icelandic carrier Eagle Air. Djibouti Dubai Express Holding Co. (DAALLO Airlines) has purchased one BAe 146-200 from Falko.

Tianjin-based Okay Airways (OKA) has applied to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) to launch a regional airline and plans to place a firm order for 20 AVIC-produced MA60 turboprops, according to OKA EVP Liu Jieyin.

Etihad (EY) has canceled seven Airbus A350-1000s from an original order of 25 aircraft, Airbus has confirmed.

Rolls-Royce has completed the first test run of its upgraded Trent 1000 Package C variant, the company announced Tuesday.

EVA Air has finalized an order for three Boeing 777-300ERs, including purchase rights for four aircraft, the two companies announced.

Boeing has filed a new patent in which it updates its sonic cruiser sketches originally filed with the US Patent office in 2003, though a BCA Engineering spokesperson told ATW “[The] patent is on low noise technology, not a sonic cruiser.

Qantas Group’s new low-cost subsidiary (LCC) Jetstar Japan (GK) has taken delivery of its first Airbus A320, as the Japanese LCC prepares to launch domestic services July 3, several months ahead of schedule.

Boeing’s newly announced winglet technology is expected to be the last major change to the 737 MAX before the aircraft design is finalized, the program’s chief engineer said Wednesday.

Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp.’s decision in April to delay the MRJ program by more than a year has not yet affected Pratt & Whitney’s schedule to develop the PW1200G geared turbofan (GTF) powerplant for the aircraft, evidenced by the start of engine flight testing this week on Pratt’s flying test bed 747SP.

Lufthansa’s (LH) first Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental flew to its permanent home base in Frankfurt Airport (FRA) Tuesday.

Pratt & Whitney has launched ultrasonically pulsed waterjet stripping method PurePulse, a technology to remove hard coatings/materials applied by thermal spraying and plating processes, using 30% of the pressure of traditional units.

Airbus has rolled out the first new-build A320 with sharklets from its Toulouse facility.

Air Lease Corp. (ALC) has purchased eight Boeing 787-9s, which it will lease to Vietnam Airlines, the lessor announced Monday.

China Eastern Airlines (MU) placed an order for 20 Boeing 777-300ERs in an order worth $5.94 billion at list prices, according to the carrier’s statement released by Shanghai Stock Exchange.

A 15.1% increase in the civil jet engine aftermarket has helped French aerospace, defense and security supplier Safran post a 15.9% year-on-year (7.3% organic) revenue increase for the first quarter, bringing the total for the period to €3.1 billion ($4.1 billion).

The Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SSJ100) aircraft has been certified to operate in the high north latitude area, after undergoing trials at Yakutia’s Tiksi Airport (IKS), located at the 71.7 degree of the north latitude.

Boeing’s North Charleston, S.C. facility rolled out its first 787 Friday. The aircraft is scheduled to be delivered to Air India in mid-year.

Lufthansa (LH) has taken delivery of its first Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental, which will fly to its permanent home base in Frankfurt May 1.

The first Boeing 787 Dreamliner to be assembled at the company’s Charleston, S.C. production facility will be rolled out Friday.

ST Aerospace has secured about $540 million worth of new contracts in the first quarter. These contracts—which are for aircraft maintenance and modification, component total support, and engine total support businesses—will be carried out at its global maintenance, repair and overhaul network. The company has inked a passenger-to-freighter (PTF) conversion order for 15 Boeing 757-200s.

Bombardier announced Wednesday that the CSeries aircraft is on track for a late 2013 entry into service.

Airbus has delivered the aft fuselage for the A350 XWB static test airframe to the final assembly line in Toulouse, France.

Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp. (MITAC) on Wednesday announced it will delay the first flight of its 70/90-seat regional jet from the second quarter 2012 to an October-December 2013 timeframe, and will also delay first delivery from the first quarter of 2014 to the summer of 2015.

Embraer delivered 21 aircraft in the 2012 first quarter, one more than last year. It reported 1,063 firm commercial jet orders and delivered 823 aircraft, with a firm order backlog of 240 aircraft and 689 options.