Air China Finalizes CFM56-5B Engine Order

November 16, 2010

In a special ceremony here today, Chinese flag carrier Air China finalized its order for CFM International's CFM56-5B engine to power 20 firm Airbus A320 aircraft. The engine order, originally announced at the Farnborough Air Show in July, is valued at approximately $300 million U.S. at list price.

Air China, which is scheduled to begin taking delivery of the new aircraft in 2011, is the largest commercial airline in China and has been a long-time CFM customer. In addition to the 20 A320s announced today, the airline's current fleet includes 55 Airbus A320 and 118 Boeing 737 family aircraft powered by CFM56-5B and CFM56-3/7B engines, respectively, as well as six long-range, four-engine Airbus A340-300 aircraft powered by the CFM56-5C.

"We are very pleased to continue our long relationship with CFM," He Li, Vice President of Air China noted when placing the order. "We already have a big CFM56-powered fleet of Airbus and Boeing aircraft, and the operating economics and the outstanding reliability of this engine have been enabling us save our costs and assure our customers of the very highest level of service that we can provide."



The high reliability, long on-wing life, and low maintenance costs of the CFM56-5B make it extremely popular with major airlines, low-cost carriers, and leasing companies worldwide. All of Air China's new CFM56-5B engines are of the Tech Insertion configuration. This configuration was introduced in September 2007 and, through October 2010, the CFM56-5B fleet of more than 1,600 engines in service worldwide had logged more than seven million flight hours and four million flight cycles without a single engine-related event.

CFM56-5B engines are a product of CFM International, a 50/50 joint company between Snecma (Safran group) and GE. CFM, the world's leading supplier of commercial aircraft engines, has delivered 21,450 engines to date.

Jamie Jewell



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Charles Soret



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Perry Bradley



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Talal Ahmed Almahmood


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