Farnborough, UK. 13 July 2016 . Air Europe announced that is has ordered CFM International’s LEAP-1B engine to power 20 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft ordered earlier today. The engine order is valued at more than $800 million U.S. at list price, including a maintenance agreement.
The aircraft order was previously listed as an unidentified customer with Boeing. Under the terms of the 12-year Rate Per Flight Hour (RPFH) service agreement CFM will guarantee engine maintenance costs on a dollar per engine flight hour basis.
“The reliability of the CFM56 engines in our fleet has been a big factor in our ongoing success,” said Juan José Hidalgo, chairman and CEO of Air Europa. “We think the LEAP-1B will further support our long-term growth strategy by providing better fuel efficiency with the level of quality and world-class support we have come to expect from CFM.”
Air Europa, headquartered in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, is a long-time CFM customer and currently operates a fleet of 20 CFM56-7B-powered Boeing Next-Generation 737 aircraft.
“We are pleased to continue our long relationship with Air Europa,” said Jean-Paul Ebanga, president and CEO of CFM International. “They have been operating our engines for 30 years – since they began flight operations – and we are honored that they have entrusted their future fleet to CFM.”
“Air Europa has always focused on operating state-of-the art equipment,” said Gaël Meheust, vice president of sales for CFM parent company Safran Aircraft Engines. “The advanced technology in our LEAP-1B engine will not only provide a significant improvement in fuel efficiency, but bring the environmental benefits so important to their operations.”
The LEAP-1B engine flew for the first time on the Boeing 737 MAX on January 29, 2016. Since then, three more aircraft have been added to the test program and, to date, these three airplanes have logged a combined total of more than 300 test flights, including completing high altitude flight testing in La Paz, Bolivia.