Etihad Airways will lease two new A320-200s from CIT Aerospace, the lessor announced. Aircraft are powered by IAE V2527-A5s and will be delivered by year end.

Shanghai-based Spring Airlines plans to order 30 A320s and expand its fleet to 100 aircraft by 2015, according to Chairman Wang Zhenghua. Wang said the company is awaiting regulatory approval for the order. The LCC currently operates eight A320s on a network spanning more than 30 Chinese cities. It expects its fleet to number 30 by 2010 and increase to 100 by 2015, at which point half the fleet will be leased and half owned.

Austrian LCC Niki took delivery of a new 212-seat A321 Wednesday. It now operates nine A320 family aircraft including an A320 leased from Vueling Airlines. President Niki Lauda told ATWOnline in Stockholm that the carrier expects to transport 2.2 million passengers this year, up 29.4% from 2007 (ATWOnline, Jan. 14), and operate 20 A320s by 2019. He said the new aircraft will be financed over a 12-year period, with 80% coming from banks and the remainder from the carrier's own cash.

Bombardier is projecting 12,900 deliveries of new aircraft in the 20/149- seat range over the next 20 years, up from its previous forecast of 11,200. The market now is valued at $528 billion. "Fuel is a major driver in our revised forecast," VP-Commercial Aircraft Marketing and Communications Trung Ngo said at this week's Regional Airline Assn. meeting in Indianapolis. The numbers represent a "significant increase in fleet size" as airlines seek replacements for aging aircraft or move to expand their fleets, he said.

Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines executives continued to push the merits of their proposed merger this week, assuring both federal and state legislators that no "frontline" workers will be cut, while the two carriers' pilot groups plan to meet next week.