Speaking to FlightGlobal.com, Paolo Cesar de Sousa e Silva – the president of the Embraer Commercial Aviation – confirmed that the timing of a newly re-engineered fleet really depends on when the firm chooses a new engine provider.

If Embraer opts for Pratt & Whitney’s geared turbofan (GTF), then de Sousa e Silva is confident that the second-generation of E-jets could be in the skies by 2016.

On the other hand, if the company waited for new engines from General Electric and Rolls-Royce, then 2018 is a more realistic bet.

Nonetheless, de Sousa e Silva is confident that the E-175, E-190 and E-195 could all be seeing service “somewhere between 2017-2018″; much earlier than Embraer announced last November.

A decision has yet to be made on the fourth member of the E-class commercial jets, the E-170, it also emerged. However, a new 130-seater version of the E-195 is being considered. This would invariably change the engine requirements from other members of the fleet again.

Flight tracking enthusiasts might be familiar with the 70 to 120-seat capacity E-Jet range, as they are often used to “tap the gap” between larger mainline aircraft and smaller regional jets, explainsEmbraerCommercialJets.com.

More than 90 airlines in over 50 countries are flying at least one of the E-Jet series planes.

The Australian budget charter airline flew local Australian routes operating out of Brisbane and Melbourne and internationally to Bali, Phuket and Honolulu.

As many as 4,000 passengers are currently stranded including in Phuket and Honolulu with Qantas and JetStar both reported to be helping out.

The image below was shot in December 2011 with the Air Australia branding.

Many passengers with advanced tickets, up to 100,000, may not be covered by their travel insurance as part of their ticket conditions!

Here is the current statement on the Air Australia website www.airaustralia.com

The airline was founded in 2008 as Strategic Airlines and became Air Australia in November 2011.

On planefinder.net we tracked a couple of their last flights..

VA-YQA – Flight AGC663 from Melbourne to Brisbane – http://planefinder.net/flight/AGC663/time/2012-02-16T09:45:00%20UTC

VH-SSA – Flight AGC11 from Melboune to Honolulu – http://planefinder.net/flight/AGC11/time/2012-02-16T10:20:00%20UTC

The image below shows VH-SSA in Strategic Airlines livery captured in November 2011 shortly after the airline became Air Australia.

Sadly these aircraft are all now indefinitely grounded and are unlikely to be seen in the skies or on Plane Finder any time soon.

According to WBez.org, the deal with Lion Air, Indonesia’s largest private airline, costs an eye-watering $22.4 billion (£14.28bn). The majority of the planes will be from Boeing’s fuel-efficient 737 MAX range, with 201 units ordered.

Lion Air has also invested in 29 next-generation 737-900ERs; Boeing’s answer to Airbus’s A321.

Commenting on the deal, aviation consultant Scott Hamilton says that the order will guarantee life in the 737 range: “What this does for Boeing – it solidifies the future of the 737 line. It gives them a good tough competitor against Airbus and its A320.”

However, it isn’t all plain sailing for Boeing. European manufacturer Airbus has been one step ahead of the Chicago-based firm ever since it introduced its A320 plane in 1988.

“So this is a real horse race that Boeing is still behind,” adds Hamilton. “But Boeing is going to be catching up and as we go forward, I think you’ll see roughly about a 50/50 market share split.”

It’s likely that 787 MAX will fair well in Asia because of the country’s need for shorter trips, which can be funded cheaper with more efficient aircraft.

Plane Finder experts may already be aware that the 737 MAX has a 10-12 per cent fuel burn improvement over the most fuel efficient single-aisle airplanes today. This enables them to offer a seven per cent operating cost per seat advantage over the competition.

Speaking of the aircraft’s efficiency, Dinesh Keskar, vice president of Asia-Pacific and India Sales for Boeing Commercial Airplanes said: “Lion Air has been a leader in Indonesia from the very beginning. Today more people are flying in Asia at lower fares because of the 737 and this historic 737 MAX order will help connect more people in the future.”

Breaking Travel News reports that the 787 is to take a break during the show, remaining on public view between February 14th and 17th after completing a mammoth non-stop trip just days earlier.

Showing off the capabilities of the super-efficient airplane – one that’s sure to be a hit with flight tracking enthusiasts – the 787 flew an incredible 7,679 miles (12,358 km) from Seattle’s Boeing Field to Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport before heading to the show.

Non-stop distance is clearly one of the airplane’s selling points, with more than 800 companies snapping up models for themselves around the globe.

Boeing.com says that the 787-8 Dreamliner is capable of carrying 210 to 250 passengers on routes of 7,650 to 8,200 nautical miles (14,200 to 15,200 kilometres), while the 787-9 Dreamliner can carry 250 to 290 passengers on routes of 8,000 to 8,500 nautical miles (14,800 to 15,750 kilometres).

Composite materials make up 50 per cent of the plane’s primary structure, including the fuselage and wing, making it incredibly fuel efficient.

The model on display at the airshow, which is considered to be among the world’s top three aviation events, is currently embarking on a six-month Dream Tour.

Test plane ZA003 is said to be kitted out with special cabin features, especially for touring guests lucky enough to experience the new plane first hand.

Such luxuries include a welcoming entryway, large business-class cabin, large dimmable windows, larger bins and dynamic LED lighting.

Fuel consumption was a key issue for the aviation giant, who is expected to have paid around $280.1 million (£176m) for the 777 freighter, and $193.5 million (£122.8m) for the 787-8.

Those with an eye for flight tracking the colossal transporters, may catch a glimpse of the 747-8 on its transpacific route, stopping at Osaka and Narita in Japan, Los Angeles and San Francisco, reports Breaking Travel News.

It has a range of 4,390 nautical miles (8,130 km) and a maximum structural payload capacity of 148 tons (134 tonnes). An additional 4,221 cubic feet of storage (120 m3) improves cargo volume over the 474-400 Freighter by 16 per cent.

The 777F meanwhile, Korean Air’s first twin-engine freighter, can be spotted around European destinations, set to include London, Frankfurt and Vienna.

It has a cargo capacity of 103 metric tons (113 tons) with a range of 9,038 kilometres (4,880 nautical miles), explains Boeing.com‘s media office.

Commenting on the acquisition of the freighters, Korean Air chairman, Yang Ho Cho said: “We are very proud to become the first airline in the world to have the combined strengths of these two freighters in its fleet.

“They can help reduce carbon emissions by 17 percent and this supports our goal to be a responsible citizen of the world,” he added.

Malév, founded back in 1946, were based in Budapest, also home to Wizz Air.

The Hungarian government withdrew funding on the 2nd February 2012 and the closure was announced this morning (3rd Feb 2012).

The Malev website (http://www.malev.com/) has closed with just a holding message providing basic information to passengers.

Here is possibly their last flight. HA-LOH tracked near Helsinki on http://planefinder.net/flight/MAH745/time/2012-02-03T06:50:00%20UTC

Thank to Stephen Morris for this photo of HA-LOH.

It’s sad that we won’t be seeing these aircraft anymore in the skies or on Plane Finder.

Established in 1986 they had a total of 29 aircraft in their fleet, comprised mainly of Airbus A320′s.  Routes were mainly within mainland Europe with some to Northern Africa.

Flying mainly out of Barcelona you will no longer see these aircraft in the sky flying for this airline!  

Remember you can use the playback feature of http://planefinder.net to view the final moments of some of the aircraft.
http://planefinder.net/flight/JKK5206/time/2012-01-27T11:00:00%20UTC

We also created a fun video showing the last few flights!

This particular aircraft boasts unique double private cabins that include a double bed with 1000′s of movies on a 23 inch movie screen, champagne and all luxuries you can imagine.  

Singapore Airlines are the fourth airline to fly the A380 into JFK now and join Lufthansa, Emirates, Air France and Korean Air in regular scheduled services. 

We caught this flight flying into JFK last night and it will soon become a regular sight into JFK on planefinder.net

http://planefinder.net/flight/SIA26/time/2012-01-16T14:00:00%20UTC

The two Pandas,  Huan Huan (Happy) and Yuan Zi (Chubby) are currently on board the FedEx Panda Express aircraft that has been specially adapted (and painted) for the occasion.

The Boeing 777F (N892FD) is traveling the 5000 miles and is due to land at 1200 local time in Paris.  The VIPs will then be taken to the zoo and are due to arrive at 1630. They are accompanied on their journey by a handler who will remain in France for 6 months to make sure that they settle in okay.

The flight is currently up and can be tracked on planefinder.net right now!

http://planefinder.net/flight/FDX9755

We should track the aircraft all the way into Paris!

This is not the first time that we tracked Pandas too!

In December we saw Tian Tian and Yang Guang arrive in Edinburgh.

http://froot.co/pandaFlight

Turns out this was the Royal Air Force’s new air to air refuelling tanker in testing!  Apparently there were also a couple of Eurofighter jets there too as part of a full test!

See the flight for yourself by clicking the link below.  Why not increase the playback speed to 120x as it was up for some time!

http://planefinder.net/flight/CASA16/time/2012-01-09T12:15:00%20UTC

In March 2008 the UK government placed an order for 14 Aircraft in a 27 year deal to provide air to air refuelling capabilities.  The deal is a private finance initiative where the AirTanker Consortium will own and operate the modified Airbus A330 aircraft for the role.  They replace the RAF’s ageing Tristar and VC-10 fleet currently in service!

More testing will happen over the coming months we are sure as they were due to enter service at the end of 2011!

So why not set an alert in the iOS apps and be alerted when it is testing next so you can see for yourself!