PowerJet, the Snecma/NRO Saturn joint venture, announced yesterday that 100% of certification tests have been completed on the SaM146 engine that will power the Sukhoi Superjet 100. Speaking to reporters at the Regional Airline Assn. Annual Convention in Milwaukee, PowerJet Chairman and CEO Jean-Paul Ebanga said the last medium-bird ingestion test was conducted successfully yesterday and the engine is in the "home stretch" toward EASA certification "sometime this summer."

AerCap Holdings reached agreement to sell six A320s to Dublin-based operating lessor Avolon. Four of the aircraft were manufactured this year and are part of the AerVenture portfolio, a joint venture between AerCap and Abu Dhabi investment holding company Waha Capital. The other two are owned by AerCap and were manufactured in 2008. All aircraft have been sold with leases attached.

ATR VP-Marketing and Airline Studies Mario Formica said 2011 "will be fundamental" for making a final decision on whether or not the manufacturer will launch an 80/100-seat turboprop.

Bombardier pushed back against the notion that a re-engined A320 or 737 would severely damage the viability of its CSeries, questioning whether Airbus or Boeing could deliver equivalent fuel-burn improvements without making major and costly aircraft design modifications.