GE, Safran unveil engine to lead into new era of jetliners

The new engine, called Leap-X, may be certified as early as 2016 and is designed to cut fuel consumption by 16 per cent over the venture's current CFM56 model, the companies said today in London ahead of the Farnborough International Air Show. The companies also extended the venture, started in 1974, to 2040.

With airlines clamoring for fuel savings amid record oil prices, engine makers are racing to have technology ready for when Boeing Co and Airbus SAS design new planes for the biggest part of the commercial market: narrow, single-aisle jetliners that seat at least 110 people and serve short-haul flights. The planes, which would succeed the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320, are likely to come no earlier than 2016, with a potential engine-market value of $40 billion.

"Our customers are hurting and we are responding," CFM Chief Executive Officer Eric Bachelet said in a statement. "We have set aggressive targets for this engine, and the technology plan is in place to achieve them."

CFM powered about half the existing narrow-body market and accounts for two-thirds of orders as of July 9, according to Ascend Online Fleets database. The CFM56 is the only engine on the 737. GE builds cores that are fed by Safran's fan systems.

CFM competes with International Aero Engines, a venture of Pratt & Whitney and London-based Rolls-Royce Group Plc for A320 models. Pratt & Whitney is a unit of Harford, Connecticut-based United Technologies Corp. and Toulouse, France-based Airbus is part of European Aeronautic, Defence & Space Co

Engine Core: Fairfield, Connecticut-based GE, the world's biggest jet- engine maker, also said it will use Leap-X's core