++ Lotus Air of Egypt has signed a firm contract for a new Airbus A320 and has taken an option on one more. The new charter carrier will begin operating in January 1998 with the first of two A320s leased from International Lease Finance (ILFC), linking Egyptian resorts with European cities. ++ Continental Airlines has added two ex-Condor McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30s on lease from Aviation Investors International. ++ Colombian airline ACES has taken delivery of its first of four International Aero Engines V2500-A5-powered A320s, becoming the first Airbus customer in Colombia. ++ EVA Air of Taiwan has ordered a further two Boeing MD-11 freighters for delivery in 1999, which will increase the airline's MD-11 fleet to 12. Two more freighters are due for delivery by the end of the year and a further two in 1998. ++ Malaysia Airlines chairman Tajudin Ramli has ordered a new 737 Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) for personal and Government VIP use. Boeing has signed purchase memoranda with Malaysian customers for the BBJ, but it is unclear whether all the aircraft will now be ordered in the face of major financial crisis. ++ Air Venezuela has signed a memorandum of understanding with IPTN to order four N250-100s, and take options on a further four aircraft. The airline is looking for a replacement for its eight Convair 580s and, as an interim measure, may sub-lease Merpati Nusantara Airlines' four BAe ATPs.++ Britannia Airways will add two General Electric CF6-80C2-powered 767-300ERs in early 1999 on lease from ILFC. ++ La Ronge Aviation, which operates in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, has purchased two BAe Jetstream 31s from BAe Asset Management - Turboprops, while Northwest Territories-based Northwestern Air has bought its second Jetstream 31. ++ Qatar Airways is acquiring a new A320 from Airbus Industrie. ++LAN Chile has ordered two General Electric CF6-80C2-powered Boeing 767-300ERs for delivery in 1999.
Source: Flight International
