Lanchile Places $160 Million CFM56 Engine Order

August 25, 1999

LanChile, one of the fastest growing airlines in the world, has placed a $160 million order for CFM56-5C engines to power seven firm A340-300 aircraft scheduled to begin delivery late next year. The airline could increase its A340 fleet in the future with seven additional A340-300 optional aircraft.

CFM International (CFM), a 50/50 joint company between Snecma (Safran Group) of France and General Electric of the United States, is the world's leading supplier of commercial aircraft engines. Over the past six years, CFM56 engines have been chosen to power 55 percent of the aircraft with a capacity of 100 passengers or more ordered in that time frame.

LanChile's new A340-300 aircraft will be powered by CFM56-5C4 engines. The CFM56-5C4, rated at 34,000 pound takeoff thrust, is the highest thrust CFM56 engine available. The airline intends to use the new long-range, four engine aircraft to modernize its long-haul fleet and improve services on routes to North America, the South Pacific, and Europe. The airline currently operates three DC-8 Super 70 freighter aircraft re-engined with the CFM56-2; the A340 order is LanChile's first new order for CFM56 engines.

The CFM56-5C engine is the exclusive powerplant on the A340-200 and A340-300. The 161 CFM56-5C-powered A340s in operation worldwide have logged more than 8.3 million flight hours since entering service in 1993. The fleet maintains a dispatch reliability rate of 99.87 percent and an in-flight shutdown rate of .008, in addition to one of the lowest shop visit rates in this thrust class.

Jamie Jewell



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+1 513.885.2282

jamie.jewell@ge.com

Charles Soret



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+33 (0)6.31.60.96.79

charles.soret@safrangroup.com

Perry Bradley



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perry.bradley@ge.com

Talal Ahmed Almahmood


+973 173 3819


talal.almahmood@gulfair.com