The major aircraft manufacturers secured some significant orders at the Singapore Air Show this week, with Airbus adding to its A380 backlog and Boeing signing large deals with two Indonesian airlines.

Korean Air committed to buying three more A380-800s, adding to an existing order for five placed in 2003. Korean is scheduled to receive its first A380 in 2010, and the latest three orders will be delivered in 2012 and 2013. This is Airbus' first A380 order of the year -- the manufacturer hopes to sell 30 of this type this year to a mix of repeat and new customers. So far, Airbus has 192 firm orders from 16 customers.

Boeing, meanwhile, secured an order for 56 737-900ERs from Indonesia's Lion Air, as well as purchase rights for 50 more. The airline now has 178 orders for the -900ER. Boeing launched the -900ER program in 2005, when Lion ordered its first 30 of this aircraft. The airline will be the largest operator of -900ERs. All of its orders will be equipped with blended winglets.

Another Indonesian carrier, Garuda, announced four 777-300ER orders and purchase rights for 10. The carrier also converted existing -200ER orders to -300ERs, giving it a total of 10 firm orders for the -300ER. In addition, Garuda was revealed as the previously anonymous customer for seven 737-800s ordered last year. The airline converted 18 of its 737-700 orders to -800s. This means its total -800 order stands at 25, with purchase rights for another 25.

Converted Freighters

Fort Worth-based aircraft leasing company Q Aviation and Boeing on Tuesday announced an agreement for 10 firm and 10 options slots for passenger to freighter conversions of 767-300ERs under the Boeing Converted Freighter (BCF) program. Q Aviation already has a fleet of more than 75 aircraft, leased to customers all over the globe.

Embraer on Feb. 19 revealed six orders for its 170 model from EgyptAir, with deliveries to begin in 2009. The company already has 12 orders for the 170. Air France subsidiary Regional also ordered two more Embraer E-jets, one 170 and one 190. Both are scheduled for delivery in 2009. Regional already operates five 190s and has seven existing 170 orders.

Photo: Airbus