First North Charleston 787 flies

The first in North Charleston completed Boeing 787 Dreamliner made its maiden flight on 23 May. The aircraft successfully conducted a five-hour test flight. More than 5,000 Boeing South Carolina employees watched a live broadcast of the airplane as it took off from Charleston International Airport. The airplane will be flown to Ft. Worth, Texas to be painted with Air India's livery before returning to Boeing South Carolina for a mid-2012 delivery. (Photo: Boeing)

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Boeing Delivers UPS’s 50th 767 Freighter

Boeing delivered the 50th 767-300 Freighter to UPS - United Parcel Service - on 22 May. UPS is the biggest user of the 767 Freighter, "the workhorse of our fleet," says UPS Airlines President Mitch Nichols. The 767 Freighter is based on the 767-300ER (extended range) passenger airplane and carries up toe 58 tons of revenue cargo. UPS is a big widebody aircraft user. It also flies 13 Boeing 747-400F aircraft, 38 McDonnell Douglas MD-11Fs and 53 Airbus A300 Freighter (plus 75 Boeing 757PF (Package Freighters) narrowbodies). UPS has nine more 767 Freighters on order. (Photo Boeing)

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EVA Air orders more Boeing 777-300s

Taiwan's airline EVA Air has ordered three Boeing 777-300ERs. The airline also took options for four more 777-300ERs and it also plans to lease four of the aircraft type from GE Capital Aviation Services. EVA Air already operates 15 777-300ERs. EVA Air will use the aircraft on new services to mainland China and new destinations in North Asia.

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Etihad cancels seven A350-1000s

Etihad Airways form Abu Dhabi has cancelled orders for seven Airbus A350-1000 aicraft. The airline has now halved its order for the yet to develop 350-seat jet from 25 to 12. Etihad keeps its 25 options and purchase rights for the type. Last year Airbus pushed back the development of the stretched A350-1000 by two years to win time for redesign. The A350 is now due to enter service in the middle of 2017. Some A350 customers like Qatar Airways and Emirates have criticized the A350-1000 for not delivering a real advantage over Boeing's 777-300ER.

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Qantas: two Airbus A380 aircraft later

Qantas has announced the delay of the delivery of two Airbus A380 megajets as part of a cost-saving campaign. The two aircraft were scheduled for delivery in eaarly 1913 but will now join the fleet in 2016-17. This saves the airline about $400 million, on top of $500 million in other cuts on jobs announced in February. Qantas gives priority to the strengthening of its domestic network.
Qantas has twelve A380s in service. Another six A380s will be delivered to the airline from 2018/19.

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Boeing buys Airbus A340s

Boeing will buy the five Airbus A340-600s from the fleet of China Eastern Airlines as part of an imminent deal to sell 20 777-300ER aircraft to the airline. The airline has five A340-300s and five A340-600s. Airbus will take the five -300s as part of a deal to sell 15 A330s to the airlines, which will probably be delayed because of polical turmoil around the EC aircraft emmission programme. The type of deal with Boeing is unusual but happened before. In the mid-1990s Boeing bought A340s from Singapore Airlines, also as part of a deal to sell 777's. Some A340s were still being assembled then. Boeing is now looking for buyers for the ex-China Eastern Airbuses. They are like new!

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787-leases by Vietnam Airlines

US aircraft leasing firm Air Lease Corporation has ordered eight Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners it will lease to Vietnam Airlines. The aircraft are to be delivered in 2017 and 2018. It is the first lease transaction of the company for the 787-9. Air Lease announced several other contracts, including some widebodies: one Boeing 777-300ER for Emirates, one Airbus A330-200 for KLM to be delivered in 2013, and one A330-300 for Sichuan Airlines, also for delivery in 2013.

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