China Southern places $1.50 billion order for CFM LEAP-1A engines

LE BOURGET, France — 20 June 2017 — China Southern Airlines has placed an order for CFM International LEAP-1A engines to power 50 new Airbus A320neo aircraft.  The order is valued at nearly $1.50 billion U.S. and the airline is scheduled to begin taking delivery in 2018.  The aircraft order was announced 2014.

China Southern was one of CFM’s first customers in China and has been operating CFM56-powered aircraft for more than 30 years.

“China Southern and CFM have been together for a very, very long time,” said Gaël Méheust, president and CEO of CFM. “They have been with us from the very beginning, when the first CFM56 engines began operating in China and the fleet has continued to grow since then.  We are obviously very pleased and honored that they have chosen to extend that relationship even further with the selection of the LEAP-1A engine.”

Since the first LEAP-1A-powered A320neo aircraft entered service in August 2016, the engine has been delivered to 14 operators worldwide.  The fleet is delivering a 15 percent improvement in fuel efficiency, with an equivalent reduction in CO₂ emissions; and lower noise and NOx emissions.  To date, the fleet in service has logged more than 77,000 engine flight cycles and more than 145,000 engine flight hours while maintaining CFM’s industry-leading reliability.