Gulf Air continued its restructuring under new CEO Andre Dose (ATWOnline, April 5), announcing approval this week of a plan "aimed at significantly reducing company losses over the next few years." Details will be revealed next week, but the carrier said the plan does include a fleet reduction from 34 to 28 aircraft.

Cirrus Airlines, a Lufthansa regional partner, has established an Austrian subsidiary based in Salzburg called Cirrus At. The new entity will launch operations with thrice-daily flights to Zurich in codeshare with Swiss International Air Lines starting June 4 aboard Do 328 turboprops. Cirrus At is evaluating further services to second-tier Austrian cities like Graz and Linz.

Goodrich will supply wheels and electrically actuated brakes for Japan Airlines' 30 787s.

GE Aviation said yesterday that a new derivative of the CF34-8C5 engine, the CF34-8C5A2 providing 5% more thrust on normal takeoff, will be available for the CRJ1000, the 100-seat RJ launched by Bombardier in February (ATWOnline, Feb. 21). The CF34-8C5A2 will be rated at the same 14,510 lb. thrust as the original CF34-8C5 but will produce 5% more thrust for normal takeoffs and up to 3% more for maximum takeoffs at low-altitude airfields.

Aeroflot announced an agreement with Joint Aircraft Building Corp. for the 15-year lease of six new IL-96-400T freighters. The aircraft have a range of 5,700 km. and a payload of 92 tons. Two will be delivered in 2008, one the following year and three in 2010.