The Lufthansa Group will order up to 16 aircraft from Airbus and Boeing in a deal valued at E2.1b (US$2.5b) at list prices. The orders include up to 12 Airbus A320 family aircraft for Lufthansa Group carriers, 2 Boeing 777-300ERs for Swiss and 2 777 Freighters for Lufthansa Cargo, the carrier says. The Lufthansa Group board approved the deals Monday. The A320 family order is split between up to 6 A320s that will be delivered "depending on availability" this year to offset A320neo delays, and the conversion of 6 A320neo options to firm orders with deliveries in 2022. Swiss will take the 777-300ERs in 2020 and use them for growth. Lufthansa Cargo will use the 777Fs to replace ageing Boeing MD-11s. Not including the latest deal, Lufthansa Group has firm orders for 61 A320neos, 45 A321neos and 20 777-9Xs. <br/>
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Air NZ will probably seek compensation for having to ground 2 of its Dreamliners, aviation <br/>experts say. Nine of Air NZ's Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines, fitted to its Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners, are required to be inspected by April 20 under a directive issued by EASA. The issue, which relates to problems with engine turbine blades wearing out sooner than expected, has affected airlines worldwide. An Air NZ spokeswoman said its checks were completed last month and as a result 2 Dreamliners had been temporarily removed from service while engines underwent maintenance work at a Rolls-Royce facility in Singapore. The maintenance schedule has resulted in Air NZ rescheduling and cancelling flights, affecting some 9000 customers. <br/>
United Airlines has July 20 for the launch of daily service between Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental and Havana’s Jose Marti International. The new daily service marks a significant expansion in frequency on the Saturday-only service between the two markets that had been available since United launched the route in Dec of 2016. Interestingly, United will operate the new daily service on a mix of regional and mainline aircraft. United regional vendor Mesa Airlines will operate some of the flights under the United Express banner on an Embraer E-175 regional aircraft. Other of the daily flights will operate on a United mainline Boeing 737-800 aircraft. Houston city officials view the expanded frequency as a significant economic boon to a city still recovering from the devastating effects of Hurricane Harvey last year. <br/>
Ethiopian Airlines has placed a follow-on order for 10 Bombardier Q400s, plus purchase rights for 5 additional Q400 turboprops, the carrier said May 4. With this order, Ethiopian increases its fleet of Q400s to up to 39 aircraft if all purchase rights are exercised. The firm order is valued at approximately US$332m at list prices. Ethiopian is the largest operator of Q400s in Africa; the airline operates 22 Q400s based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and through its partners at ASKY in Lome, Togo and Malawian Airlines in Lilongwe, Malawi. Ethiopian is expected to take delivery of 2 more Q400s in 2018. The 82-seat Q400s will support additional domestic capacity in Ethiopia, as well as the carrier’s new African partnership hubs in Mozambique, Chad, and Equatorial Guinea. <br/>