KLM completed the phase-out of its General Electric CF6-powered Boeing 747-200 Stretched Upper Deck (SUD)/-300 fleet in early December. Two 747-200 SUDs (one Combi and one passenger version) have been sold to Holiday Airlines, sister company of Thai carrier Phuket Airlines. The aircraft will be operated on international services from Thailand. Three of the airline's seven remaining 747-200 SUD/-300s will be returned to their lessors, while four others are KLM-owned and being remarketed by Cabot Aviation. Qatar Airways is to acquire three CF6-powered Airbus A330-300s on lease from GE Capital Aviation Services. The first two, which are young secondhand aircraft, will enter service with Qatar Airways in January and February. The third, a new-build aircraft, will follow in June 2005. Thomas Cook Airlines UK has placed a Boeing 757-200 on lease with Greece Airways until the end of April. The aircraft will be operated on Greece Airways' air operator's certificate on behalf of Air Scotland, flying a programme mainly from Glasgow and Edinburgh, with some services from Newcastle to the Spanish mainland and Portugal. Mexican regional carrier Aerolitoral has signed an agreement with Embraer for the purchase of five ERJ-145LRs for delivery between March and October 2004. The aircraft will be used to upgrade the airline's fleet of 25 turboprops. Austrian Airlines has ordered two Bombardier Dash 8 Q400s for delivery to its Austrian Arrows division in the first half of 2005. The airline already operates eight Q400s and has options on two more.
Source: Flight International
