Delta Air Lines for the first time publicly addressed whether it will retain 18 787-8 firm orders placed in 2005 by Northwest Airlines, stating in a regulatory filing this week that it has entered into an agreement with Boeing "to reaffirm" the orders but has deferred delivery to 2020-2022.

ICBC Financial Leasing has a five-year, $162.8 million loan from DVB Bank, through its Singapore-based subsidiary, DVB Group Merchant Bank Ltd., for eight aircraft on lease to four international and Chinese airlines.

B/E Aerospace said Monday it signed a definitive agreement to acquire Copenhagen-based Satair's fastener distribution business for $162 million in cash. "The acquisition complements and expands B/E Aerospace's current broad consumables product offerings to include metric fasteners, adhesive fasteners, latches, cables, struts, tooling and lighting products," it said in a statement, adding that the transaction is expected to close during the 2010 fourth quarter.

Gulf Air claims it will conclude before year end its negotiations with Boeing and Airbus on changes to its orders for 24 787s and 20 A330s, respectively, and decide on a new order for up to 10 RJs, CEO Samer Majali told ATW on the sidelines of the Arab Air Carriers Organization’s 43rd AGM in Cairo last week.

British Airways firmed up options for another two E-190 jets, increasing its E-Jets firm orders to 13, comprising six E-170s and seven E-190s. The aircraft will be operated by its London City-based subsidiary BA CityFlyer. “We are delighted to announce the conversion of these two options, which will increase our fleet size by almost 20% at London City airport,” said BA CityFlyer MD Peter Simpson. “Customer feedback on the new fleet has been fantastic, particularly with the additional space and two-by-two seating.”