The Hindu Business Line : CFM bags 1,270 aircraft engine orders till June

CFM International, a 50-50 joint company between Snecma (a SAFRAN group company) and General Electric Company, has received orders for 1,270 commercial, military, and spare engines till June at a value of approximately $7.6 billion.

"After 2005, we had no expectations that 2006 would be this strong," Mr Eric Bachelet, President and CEO of CFM International, said in a press release.

"We believe we will finish the year with 1,500 new engine orders. Overall, the industry is doing very well. Despite fuel prices, many carriers are finally returning to profitability. One of the big differences we're seeing is tremendous growth in aviation in emerging regions around the world, as well as all of the new low cost carriers entering the market."

CFM set a record in 2005, receiving orders for 1,640 CFM56 engines at a value of $9.8 billion. The company's previous record, set in 1989, was for 1,343 engines.

Indian, GoAir orders

The 2006 orders included one from Indian, which finalised a $500-million deal for CFM56-5B engines to power its new fleet of 43 A-320 family aircraft, and another from GoAir, the new low-cost carrier, which has also plumped for the CFM56-5B to power 10 firm, 10 option Airbus A-320 aircraft in a $120-million firm engine order.

CFM delivered the 4,000th CFM56-7B engine to Boeing, paving the way for delivery of the 2,000th Next-Generation 737 aircraft to launch customer Southwest Airlines.

The CFM56-7B-powered Boeing 737-600/-700/-800/-900s have logged 50 million engine flight hours in just eight years of service with 160 operators worldwide.

Overall, the CFM56-powered fleet has logged more than 325 million flight hours in service powering more than 6,330 commercial and military aircraft worldwide.

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