India’s Vistara Airlines and CFM International have signed a Letter of Intent at the Farnborough Airshow for the carrier to buy 26 LEAP-1A engines to power 13 additional Airbus A320neo aircraft it ordered earlier this month.
Once finalised, the engine order will be valued at US$375 million at list price, said CFM at the show. Vistara has also secured agreements for 37 additional leased aircraft that will also be powered with the LEAP-1A engine. The leased aircraft orders were previously announced.
The carrier took delivery of the first of seven LEAP-1A-powered A320neo aircraft leased from BOC Aviation in May last year and currently operates a fleet of eight LEAP-1A-powered aircraft.
CFM International, a 50/50 joint venture company between GE and Safran Aircraft Engines, also announced in Farnborough that it had signed a deal with China’s Yunnan Hongtu Airlines for the purchase of CFM56-5B engines to power three A320ceo aircraft.
In addition, the airline signed a 12-year Rate Per Flight Hour Agreement (RPFH) to support 24 LEAP-1A engines that will power its leased A320neo fleet. Under the RPFH, CFM will provide maintenance support on a dollar per flight hour basis. These agreements, which also include the potential purchase of two LEAP-1A and one CFM56-5B spare engine, are valued at a total of $408 million at list price.
The LEAP engine has won more than 15,450 total engine orders and commitments (excluding options) at a value of more than $220 billion at list price since 2011. Total production rates remain at historic highs, it added, with the company on track to deliver more than 2,100 CFM56 and LEAP engines this year.
This month will also mark the point where CFM will build more LEAP engines than CFM56 units. The company plans to produce CFM56 spare parts until around the year 2045. LEAP production will continue to ramp up over the next few years, with the current rate to nearly double to more than 2,000 engines by 2020.
“We are very pleased by what a strong year 2018 has been so far in terms of orders,” said Méheust. “On the production side, we are closing the delivery gap with Airbus and Boeing by producing at a recovery rate to get everything back on track this year.”
[Photo: CFM president Gaël Méheust (left) and Vistara Airlines CEO Leslie Thng]
Written by: Mark Thomas
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