VGS Aircraft Holding (Ireland) Ltd. acquired an A320-200 from RBS Aerospace through wholly owned VGS subsidiary Johannesburg Ltd. The aircraft is leased to Kingfisher Airlines until September 2012 and financed by HSH Nordbank AG.

Sukhoi Civil Aircraft last weekend announced the signing of a 10-year, €100 million ($133.7 million) loan agreement with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to fund construction of the Superjet 100. Sukhoi said that along with Boeing's assistance (see story above), Alenia of Italy "is considering acquiring an equity stake" in the Russian manufacturer in addition to its marketing and after-sales support roles.

Despite the fact that its initial order lapsed last November and it signed on for 22 A350 XWBs in the interim, Aeroflot opted to join the rush to order the 787 with a commitment to Boeing for a reported 22 aircraft.

Boeing said yesterday that its engineers have completed "50% of the design for the new 777 freighter" and suppliers are beginning to build parts, assemblies and tools. The first 777F is scheduled for delivery to Air France in the 2008 fourth quarter. The manufacturer currently has 71 orders from 11 customers for the aircraft, which is based on the 777-200LR.

Brussels Airlines plans to make a fleet renewal decision next year, CEO Philippe Vander Putten recently told ATWOnline. "The choice to buy Airbus or Boeing is easy. The difficulty is to define what our future fleet requirements will be," he said. "What will our business model be? A lot will depend on how successful our new positioning [from a yield-oriented to a more volume-oriented carrier], will be.