News Roundup : Sanjay appointed Kingfisher CEO, ANA converts 15 orders to 787-9s

Kingfisher Airlines ( IATA : IT ) of India has appointed ex- SpiceJet CEO Sanjay Aggarwal as its new CEO with immediate effect. Vijay Mallya will continue to function as Chairman & MD, to whom new CEO Sanjay will report, while all VPs of the airline will now be reporting to the new CEO. Sanjay brings with him a wealth of airline experience and is much credited with bringing SpiceJet – now India’s largest LCC and most profitable airline – to its current situation.

All Nippon Airlines has converted 15 of its ( 55 ) orders for the Boeing 787-8 into Boeing 787-9s. The airline plans to configure a number of these new 787-9s in a 400 passenger configuration. This conversion increases the number of -9s on order to 220. The -9 is due to enter service in 2013 with Air New Zealand. ANA will be taking delivery of its first 787-8 in February 2011, as the launch operator of the type.

In Brief
- Production of the first Mitsubishi Regional Jet ( MRJ ) started today
- Boeing has began wing-body mating of its first 747-8i, the passenger variant
- Lufthansa has reported a 100% dispatch reliability on its A380 fleet