IndiGo places $20 billion LEAP-1A engine order with CFM

Low-cost airline IndiGo has placed a 20 billion dollar (about Rs 1.4 lakh crore) jet engine order with CFM International to power 280 Airbus A320neo and A321neo aircraft.

The contract for LEAP-1A is the largest ever single engine order in history and includes spare engines, an overhaul support agreement and a long-term service agreement.

IndiGo has been a CFM customer since 2016 and currently operates a fleet of 17 A320ceo aircraft powered by CFM56-5B engines as part of a total fleet of 215 A320/A321 family aircraft. Delivery of the first LEAP-1A-powered A320neo is scheduled in 2020.

"We are pleased to partner with CFM for our next batch of Airbus A320neo and A321neo aircraft," said Riyaz Peermohamed, Chief Aircraft Acquisition and Financing Officer of IndiGo.

"The CFM LEAP engine will allow IndiGo to maintain its strong focus on lowering operating costs and delivering fuel efficiency with high standards of reliability. This new partnership will allow IndiGo to continue to provide affordable fares to its customers," he said in a statement late on Monday.

"We are honoured by IndiGo's renewed trust in CFM," said Gael Meheust, President and CEO of CFM International. "We believe they made the right choice by selecting the advanced LEAP engine for their A320neo family aircraft. It is our job now, by word and by deed, to show them every day that they have."

The LEAP engine, which has logged nearly five million engine flight hours in less than three years of commercial service, builds on the legacy of the CFM56 product line and has set a new standard for engines in this thrust class.

The LEAP-1A engine is a product of CFM International, a 50:50 joint company between US multinational GE and France's Safran Aircraft Engines.

IndiGo has a fleet of over 230 aircraft, and offers about 1,400 daily flights to 54 domestic and 19 international destinations.

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