Boeing, Singapore Airlines confirm order for 39 airplanes

Boeing and Singapore Airlines (SIA) formally announced a deal for 20 777-9s and 19 787-10s during a ceremony at the White House.

The order, previously attributed to an unidentified customer, is worth $13.8 billion at current list prices. The value of this sales transaction will sustain thousands of U.S. suppliers and more than 70,000 direct and indirect U.S. jobs during the delivery period of this contract. The airline also has options for 12 additional aircraft, six of each aircraft type.

The signing ceremony, witnessed by U.S. President Donald Trump and Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong, included Singapore Airlines' CEO Goh Choon Phong and Boeing Commercial Airplanes' President & CEO Kevin McAllister. Peter Seah, Singapore Airlines' Chairman, and Dinesh Keskar, senior vice president, Asia Pacific & India Sales, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Other members of the airline and Boeing also were in attendance.

"SIA has been a Boeing customer for many decades and we are pleased to have finalized this major order for widebody aircraft, which will enable us to continue operating a modern and fuel-efficient fleet," Goh said.

Singapore Airlines has more than 50 777s in service and is the launch customer of the 787-10, which is set to deliver in the first half of 2018. With a prior order for 30 787-10s, the airline now has 49 on order, making it the largest customer for this type.

The 787-10 will serve the airline's medium-range operations while the 777-9 will serve the carrier's long-haul routes with a range of 7,600nm (14,075km) and seating 400 to 425 passengers.

GE9X Services Agreement
Singapore Airlines officials also signed a 12-year TrueChoice Flight Hour agreement with GE Aviation for the maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) of the 45 GE9X engines that will power its Boeing 777-9 aircraft. The services agreement is valued at more than $1.7 billion.

The announcement follows Singapore Airlines' February 2017 notice of intent to order 20 GE9X-powered Boeing 777-9 aircraft and five spare engines. The engine order is valued at more than $2 billion at list price.

Jean Lydon-Rodgers, president and chief executive officer of GE Aviation's Services organization, said, "The TrueChoice agreement on the GE9X engines demonstrates Singapore Airlines' confidence in GE's comprehensive MRO support using OEM parts and workscopes, and we look forward to working closer with the airline on MRO efforts."

At the 2017 Paris Air Show, SIA Engineering Co. Ltd. (SIAEC) and GE Aviation agreed to establish a new engine overhaul joint venture based in Singapore. The joint venture will provide a full range of engine MRO services for GE90 and GE9X engines. The GE90 engine exclusively powers the Boeing 777-300ER and 777-200LR, and the GE9X engine is the sole engine selection for the Boeing 777X aircraft.

With almost 700 GE9X engines on order, the 100,000 lb thrust GE9X engine will have a 134" diameter front fan with a composite fan case and 16 fourth-generation carbon fiber composite fan blades. Other key features include a 27:1 pressure-ratio, 11-stage high-pressure compressor; a third-generation TAPS III combustor for high efficiency and low emissions; and CMC material in the combustor and turbine.

IHI Corp., Snecma and Techspace Aero (Safran), and MTU Aero Engines AG are participants in the GE9X engine program.