The last time I checked Ascend Online the four outstanding orders were due for delivery between March and June '10. From memory it was at a rate of one a month. I'd imagine there's some hard decisions being made in the airline at the moment as to whether or not to take the new A/C. On the assumption that the aircraft are needed.....With the number of available ATR72-500's on the lease market, it must make the lease rates very attractive relative the large cash / debt required to take delivery of new aircraft. I doubt Aer Arann have a great credit rating so presumably any financing they have access to is at a high(ish) interest rate. This could explain the rumored interest in the ex AZ ATR's. The alternative of course would be to do a sale and lease back arrangement with Nordic Aviation who are the lessor for the rest of the non RE financed aircraft.
On the subject of this potential growth spurt, I'd much prefer to see them take a steady growth route. The potential deal with EI would be a great bonus but I'm sure they realise that a quick expansion can be deadly to a company from a number of reasons e.g. cashflow. If there is an EI deal, I hope it's "soft launch" with perhaps one or two routes and then gradually expanded when both operators and passengers have more confidence in it.