In a special ceremony in China last week, Shenzhen Airlines signed an agreement with CFM International for CFM56-5B to power its 10 new Airbus A320 family aircraft. The engine order is valued at $190 million U.S. at list price and the airline is scheduled to take delivery in 2012 and 2013
Together with the engine selection, Shenzhen also signed a Rate per Flight Hour (RPFH) agreement to provide comprehensive maintenance service for the fleet under which CFM will guarantee maintenance costs on a dollar per engine flight hour basis.
"We are so pleased that Shenzhen Airlines has selected the CFM56-5B engines to power its new A320 fleet," said Jean-Paul Ebanga, President and CEO of CFM. "We have established a great relationship with Shenzhen Airlines and we look forward to working more closely with them through the RPFH agreement to service and support its growing fleet."
Shenzhen Airlines, which currently operates a fleet of 91 CFM56-powered Boeing 737s and Airbus A319/320s. Shenzhen is one of the fastest growing airlines in China, serving both domestic and international routes.
All of Shenzhen's new engines will be the CFM56-5B Performance Improvement Package (PIP) configuration. The -5B PIP completed extensive ground testing and more than 26 hours of flight testing on the A320. The engine, which will become the new production standard, is on schedule for certification and entry into service by the end of 2011.
The improvements, which provide a 0.5% improvement in fuel burn, include hardware changes to the core, including new high-pressure turbine blade, as well as manufacturing changes the fan and compressor blades and vanes to improve performance retention. The engine will maintain the same noise signature as the current production engine. These engines also meet current International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Committee of Aviation Environmental Protection standards (CAEP /6) requirements.
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 more than 22,200 engines to date. The CFM56-5B engine powers every model of the Airbus A320 family and has been chosen to power nearly 60 percent of all A320 aircraft in service or on order.