UAL Continues to Bolster Liquidity
Following in American’s footsteps, UAL Corporation, raised $150 million on a sale-leaseback agreement added it to the company's unrestricted liquidity. Related Story  The company sold 15 Boeing 757 aircraft to East Shore Aircraft, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Wayzata Opportunities Fund II, LP, for approximately $150 million. United Airlines will lease these aircraft back from East Shore Aircraft, LLC, and will continue to operate and maintain the aircraft. With the completion of this transaction, United has raised more than $250 million of the $300 million of additional liquidity the company expects to raise in the fourth quarter of 2008, on top of nearly $1.4 billion the company raised in the third quarter of this year.

Embraer Adds Israeli E-Jet Customer
Arkia Israeli Airlines will operate one Embraer 195 jet from Tel Aviv to major Mediterranean and European destinations, becoming Embraer’s first Israeli customer. The order does not change Embraer’s current backlog since the aircraft had previously been delivered to Air Europa, which sold the aircraft recently. Related Story
“We are very proud to have Arkia join our E-Jets family of customers and as the very first operator of an E-Jet in Israel,” said Mauro Kern, executive vice president, airline market. “Arkia is a fast-growing Israeli airline. It is a pleasure to support them, and we look forward to a developing relationship.”
Arkia’s ERJ 195 jet will accommodate 122 passengers in a single-class layout, enabling the airline to offer a unique product with highly competitive trip cost performance, as against larger narrow-body jets. The aircraft will be deployed, primarily, in mid-density European scheduled and charter markets.
“For short and medium routes, the 195 is going to offer us much more advantageous costs than any conventional single-aisle aircraft, plus an exceptional level of comfort for our passengers,” said Gadi Tepper, Arkia’s CEO. “The introduction of this new aircraft is pivotal to our dynamic ongoing development plan.”
Arkia Israeli Airlines operates an increasing number of international scheduled and charterflights, including daily services to the Mediterranean and popular European and CIS cities, including Paris, Barcelona, Tbilisi, Kiev, and Moscow. The airline continues to expand its operations and plans to acquire new companies, such as tour operators in and out of Israel, in order to position itself as a leading player in the aviation and tourism industries to and from Israel. Arkia’s recent accomplishment – an operating and commercial license to perform scheduled flight services to Paris – marks a significant turning point in the airline’s evolution into an official flag carrier operating scheduled international flights. As further proof of its growing role in
the domestic and international operations, Arkia maintains offices in ten Israeli cities, and has over 20 offices, worldwide.

Vietnam A/Ls Take More ATRs
Vietnam Airlines and ATR inked a contract for the purchase of six new ATR 72-500s, valued at over US$112 million. With these additional aircraft, and including the aircraft already on order, Vietnam’s flag carrier will expand its fleet of ATR 72-500s up to 14 aircraft by 2010.
Vietnam Airlines started operating ATR aircraft in 1992, and booked previous orders for the 500 series in 2001 and 2007. Once all the 72-500s are delivered, the modernization of its current ATR fleet, which today counts seven ATR 72-200s and three ATR 72-500s, will be complete.
The airline will take delivery of their 11 ATR 72-500s currently on order between 2009 and 2010, thus standardizing its ATR fleet with the -500 series. The aircraft will be powered by PW 127M engines and will feature the latest navigation aid and communication tools. The aircraft will also be equipped with the “Elegance” cabin.
“Thanks to the substantial growth of Vietnam’s domestic and within-Indochina aviation markets, the demand for aviation transport services from big cities Hanoi, Danang and Ho Chi Minh city to such tourist destinations as Nha Trang, Dalat, Phu Quoc, Siem Reap, Phnom Penh and Luang Prabang is accelerating rapidly,” said Pham Ngoc Minh, president and CEO. “We strongly believe that with today’s purchase deal of six further ATR 72-500s, we will satisfy the increasing demand for services on short-haul routes, thus contributing to the promotion of tourism – investment – trade relations among regions and between
Since the beginning of the program, ATR has sold 974 aircraft (419 ATR 42s and 555 ATR 72s) and has delivered 802 (401 ATR 42s and 401 ATR 72s), thus posting a current backlog of 172 aircraft.
Founded in 1956 as Vietnam Civil Aviation and established in 1993 as the national flag carrier under its current name, Vietnam Airlines has tapped great potentials for growth over the last 15 years. The airline currently operates a young fleet of 50 modern aircraft and plans to expand its fleet o 104 and 150 aircraft by 2015 and 2020, respectively. As for the network, Vietnam Airlines is now flying to 19 domestic cities throughout Vietnam and 23 international destinations. The airline targets serving 11 million passengers by 2010.