FARNBOROUGH, England July 14, 2008 China Southern Airlines today announced that it has selected CFM56-5B engines to power a new fleet of 20 Airbus A320 family aircraft, and back the engine purchase with a long-term material services agreement.
CFM56-5B engines are a product of CFM International, a 50/50 joint company between Snecma (Safran Group) and General Electric Company.
China Southern, one of the largest airlines operating in The People's Republic of China, operates more than 600 domestic and international routes. It is also the first Chinese airline and the only one who is ranked as top five carriers in the world in terms of volume of passenger traffic. The airline was one of CFM's first customers in China and the airline has been operating CFM56 engines for more than 20 years. The aircraft announced today, which will be delivered between March 2009 and mid-2011, will nearly double the airlines current CFM56-powered A320 fleet. China Southern also operates 27 CFM56-3-powered 737 Classics as well as 71 Boeing Next-Generation 737s. An additional 65 737NG are on order, with deliveries scheduled through 2013.
"China Southern is a long-time CFM customer and we honored that an airline of this caliber continues to put its trust in CFM56 engines," said Eric Bachelet, president and CEO of CFM.
China Southern's new CFM56-5B/3 engines will be the Tech Insertion configuration, which incorporates advanced technologies to provide operators with improved fuel burn and lower maintenance costs. Compared to the base CFM56-5B engines already in the airline's fleet, the Tech Insertion-powered fleet of 20 aircraft could save the airline as much as 275,000 gallons of fuel each year, as well as significantly lowering carbon emissions.
Improved analytic design tools enabled CFM to optimize the Tech Insertion combustor so that it will provide 25 percent lower NOx emissions, providing even grater margin to the new International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Committee of Aviation Environmental Protection emissions standards (CAEP /6 regulations) which took effect in early 2008.
The CFM56-5B is popular with major airlines, low-cost carriers, and leasing companies alike. More than 3,150 CFM56-5B engines have been delivered to date, and the fleet is growing at a rate of about 40 engines per month. Primary factors behind the engine's broad-based acceptance include this industry's best reliability, durability, low cost of ownership, and world-class customer and product support. The CFM56-5B is the only engine that can power every model of the A320 family, from the small A318 up to the A321, with the same bill of materials. For more information on CFM International, visit us at www.cfmaeroengines.com.