KARACHI, Pakistan — 4 June 2014 — Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and CFM International today celebrated a relationship that has been 30 years in the making.
The Pakistani flag carrier was one of CFM International's very first customers and began operating CFM56-3-powered Boeing 737-300 aircraft in 1985.
"It is an honor to be here today celebrating this tremendous milestone with Pakistan International Airlines," said Jean-Paul Ebanga, president and CEO of CFM International. "We have a very special relationship with this airline. As one of our first customers, they placed their faith in our people and our products long before we had ever really proven ourselves. They stayed with us during some very difficult times and we are here celebrating the bond that was forged because of that."
PIA operates scheduled services to 24 domestic destinations and 38 international destinations in 27 countries across Asia, Europe and North America from its headquarters at Jinnah International Airport in Karachi.
Overall, the CFM56-3-powered 737 fleet in service has logged more than 210 million flight hours and 150 million engine flight cycles since the first airplanes were delivered to in 1984. During this time, the CFM56-3 engine has consistently maintained the highest standards for engine dependability and reliability. The fleet has a 99.98 percent departure reliability rate. The engine also maintains a .002 in-flight shutdown rate, or one event every 500,000 flight hours; this type of aircraft logs between 2,500 to 3,500 flight hours per year.
About CFM International
CFM56 engines are a product of CFM International, a 50/50 joint company between Snecma (Safran) and GE. CFM, the world's leading supplier of commercial aircraft engines, has delivered more than 26,000 engines to date. For more information concerning CFM, visit us on the Web at www.cfmaeroengines.com or follow us on Twitter @CFM engines.