Middle East & North Africa

As expected, Kuwait's Aviation Lease and Finance Company (ALAFCO) has opted for Pratt & Whitney PurePower PW1100G-JM engines to propel yesterday's order for 50 firm Airbus A320neo family aircraft.

Honeywell Aerospace has signed new distribution agreements with two companies in the UAE.

At a lively Dubai Airshow news conference Qatar Airways' CEO Akbar Al Baker announced the airline would be buying an additional two Boeing 777-200LR freighters but kept up the pressure on Airbus over its handling of A350 development.

Sharjah-based Aerostar is expanding into new fields and used the Dubai Airshow to announce the launch of an engine leasing business and an aero academy.

Atlasjet Havacilik delivered a significant boost to Bombardier's CSeries programme in Dubai yesterday by signing a letter of intent to acquire 10 CS300 aircraft and to take options on a further five.

AgustaWestland and Abu Dhabi Aviation are forming a joint venture (JV) in the UAE to provide helicopter maintenance and strengthen customer support activities in the Middle East.

Airbus enjoyed another order deluge for the A320neo yesterday, with a deal for 30 of the narrow-body airliners valued at $2.7 billion.

Spectrum Aeromed has delivered two fully equipped Hawker 900XPs to Turkey to operate under a contract for the Ministry of Health.

Al Jaber (AJ) Aviation is to be the launch customer for Satcom1's Flight Billing solution for Inmarsat connectivity.

Air Arabia has selected Rockwell Collins's second-generation digital programmable audio video entertainment system (dPAVES) in-flight entertainment (IFE) system for 44 new Airbus A320 aircraft.

Anticipation is building for the upcoming ACI Airport Exchange event taking place in Abu Dhabi from 28-30 November.(http://www.airport-exchange.com )

Jet Aviation has appointed Peter Lewis as senior manager of its new operations at Al Bateen executive airport.

Rolls-Royce has won an order from Oman Air for Trent 1000 engines to power six Boeing 787 Dreamliners.

Russia's NordStar Airlines placed an order for three ATR 42-600s at the show yesterday, bringing to seven, the total number of the type it has ordered this year.

Dubai's Medrar financial group has taken a majority interest in Diamond Aircraft Holdings (DAH), Canada for an undisclosed sum.

Raytheon has finished the installation and testing of its AutoTrac III (AT3) air traffic management (ATM) system at Dubai World Central's Al Maktoum International Airport.

Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) has revealed the Aircar, a new general turboprop aircraft, which is an evolution of the Y12 series.

Fresh from operations over Iraq and Afghanistan, the US Marine Corps Bell-Boeing MV-22 Osprey is making its regional airshow debut at Dubai.

Diamond Aircraft is showing the prototype of its new maritime surveillance aircraft at the Dubai Airshow.

Though the Alenia Aermacchi M-346 Master prototypes have been a regular sight at international air shows, Dubai sees the public debut of the production aircraft, in the shape of the first T-346 to be delivered to the Italian Air Force's Reparto Sperimentale Volo at Pratica di Mare.

Air Chief Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman, Pakistan's Chief of the Air Staff, underlined the importance of the new JF-17 Thunder which, he said, “represented a much-needed capability for the Pakistan Air Force”.

CFM's new baby – the LEAP engine – has already racked-up orders and commitments for around 2,450 units to power Airbus A320neo, Boeing 737 MAX and COMAC C919 airliners at a list price of more than $29 billion.

Flight departments across the Middle East will now have access to a whole new range of audit and safety management services.

Austria's VistaJet is to add more new long-range Bombardier aircraft to its fleet in the Middle East in response to strong demand for its services across the region and in particular from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and UAE.

Turkey's Eclipse Aerospace is to start production of the latest iteration of the Eclipse 500 very light jet, the Eclipse 550.