Ethiopian Airlines ordered eight Q400 NextGens plus four options. The deal is valued at $242 million, a figure that could rise to $366 million if all options are exercised. CEO Girma Wake said, "The aircraft's excellent range and payload capability will allow us to deploy it on domestic routes within Ethiopia, as well as on regional routes up to 1,000 nm. (1,850 km.) from Addis Ababa." Delivery dates were not disclosed. Bombardier said it has sold 330 Q400s with 210 delivered as of July 31.

Lion Air signed an MOU with ATR for 10 firm ATR 72-500s with options for 10 more. The deal is valued at more than $380 million including options. Deliveries are slated to start in 2009. The 72-seat turboprops will be operated by Lion Air subsidiary Wings Air, which is aiming to develop a low-cost network to feed Lion Air's major hubs.

Thales was selected by Airbus to supply the head-up display for the A350 XWB as a customer option. Thales said its HUD will support features such as Enhanced Vision Systems "and potentially Surface Guidance Systems and Synthetic Vision Systems." The new HUD has been redesigned with improved head clearance, "and the graphical generation is embedded within the Display Units, allowing a simplified architecture for the overall cockpit solution." This higher level of integration means a weight saving of around 16 kg. in a dual installation, it said.

Horizon Air revealed that it is in discussions with Bombardier about pushing back deliveries of the 15 Q400s it ordered in April 2007 that were originally scheduled to begin delivering last month. Parent Alaska Air Group said in a regulatory filing that it is interested in "retiming" deliveries owing to capacity cuts; its 2009 first quarter capacity is expected to be down more than 14% year-over-year and full year 2009 capacity is slated to be 9% lower.

Electromagnetic interference from the powerful VLF transmitters at the Harold E. Holt US Communication Base near Exmouth in Western Australia, along with passengers' portable electronic devices, are the focus of investigators looking into the violent midair upset of a Qantas A330-300 that injured 70 passengers last month (ATWOnline, Oct.