KUWAIT CITY, Kuwait March 12, 2007 ALAFCO Aviation Lease and Finance Company (KSCC) has announced it will purchase six firm, six option CFM56-7B-powered Boeing Next-Generation 737 aircraft. The engine order is valued at approximately $100 million at list price, including spare engines.
CFM56-7B engines are produced by CFM International, a 50/50 joint company between Snecma (Safran Group) and General Electric Company. CFM is the world's leading supplier of commercial aircraft engines with more than 16, 550 engines in service with more than 450 operators.
Based in Kuwait, ALAFCO is a growing aviation lease and finance company with customers in Asia, the Middle East, and Europe.
"ALAFCO is pleased to announce its order for the B737-800 aircraft that will be powered by the CFM56-7B engine," said Ahmad al-Zabin, ALAFCO chairman. "The customers for our 737-800 aircraft will be the beneficiaries of the reliability and success that this engine program is known for globally. Moreover, CFM provides excellent after sales support and this increases our confidence with respect to leasing these aircraft. ALAFCO has six A320-200 aircraft on order with Airbus that will be delivered in 2009. With the B737-800 order, ALAFCO has now ordered the most popular aircraft from both Airbus and Boeing."
"This order from ALAFCO demonstrates its trust in the CFM56 engine," said Eric Bachelet, president and CEO of CFM International. "The CFM56 engine has displayed outstanding reliability and low cost of ownership in service and will serve ALAFCO's lease customers well in the years to come."
All of ALAFCO's engines will be the new Tech Insertion configuration. CFM56 Tech Insertion incorporates improvements in the high-pressure compressor, the combustor, and the high- and low-pressure turbines to provide lower maintenance costs, improved engine emissions, and better fuel burn.
The CFM56-7B brings the industry's most advanced technology to the 737, providing low operating costs, high performance, high reliability, low noise and emissions and excellent operability.
More than 2,150 aircraft have been delivered to date, and the fleet has accumulated more than 60 million flight hours and 31 million flight cycles while maintaining a 99.96 percent dispatch reliability rate. This rate translates to less than one departure per 2,000 flights being delayed 15 minutes or more or canceled for engine-related issues. The CFM56-7 also has one of the lowest in-flight shutdown rates in the industry: .003 per 1,000 hours, which is equivalent to one engine-caused in-flight shutdown every 333,333 flight hours. For more information on CFM International, visit us at www.cfmaeroengines.com.