British Airways has confirmed its commitment for up to 24 Airbus A318s. The first Pratt & Whitney PW6000-powered aircraft will be delivered from 2003. South Africa's Interdoc Aerospace has placed deposits with Canadian Aerospace Group International for five 19-seat Twin Panda turboprops. The aircraft is a Westernised version of the Harbin Y-12, equipped with the Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A engines. The deposits confirm an initial order placed last year, and launches the delivery schedule with Harbin aircraft. French postal airline L'Aeropostale has wet-leased an A300B4 from Channel Express to cover until its third A300F is delivered following conversion by DaimlerChrysler Aerospace. Spanish charter airline Futura has added two Boeing 737-800s from Transavia on a six-month lease. Aviation Capital Group has completed transactions worth over $145 million covering the purchase of five additional aircraft for its lease portfolio. The deals include one CFM International CFM56-powered Airbus A320 operated by Iberia and two International Aero Engines V2500-powered examples operated by LACSA; a Pratt & Whitney PW4056-powered Boeing 767-200ER operated by Aeromexico; and a Boeing 727-200 Adv, which is being converted to freighter for lease to an undisclosed US cargo carrier. Ghana Airways has boosted its McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 fleet to two aircraft with the acquisition of an ex-Malaysia Airlines example. Heavylift Cargo Airlines is supplying an Airbus A300B4 freighter on wet-lease to Air France Cargo, which will operate it on the airline's African routes. Southern Air, formed from the defunct cargo airline SAT, has taken delivery of an ex-Lufthansa Cargo, General Electric CF6-50-powered Boeing 747-200F. Aircraft Leasing & Management has arranged the sale of two ex-Maersk Air Fokker 50s to Swedish regional Flying Enterprise.
Source: Flight International
