CFM International gets more than $2B LEAP engine, support orders

CFM International LEAP-1B engine for a Boeing 737-8.

U.S. President Trump and China President Xi Jinping witnessed the signing of an agreement between ICBC Financial Leasing Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), and CFM International for the purchase of 80 LEAP-1B engines to power 40 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. Yi Huiman, chairman of ICBC and John Rice, vice chairman of CFM parent company GE, signed the agreement. The engine order is valued at nearly $1.1 billion at list price and ICBC Leasing is scheduled to begin taking delivery in 2018. The airplanes were previously announced as part of a Chinese block buy.

At the 2017 Paris Air Show, ICBC Leasing placed a $1.0 billion order for 80 LEAP-1A engines to power new A320neo aircraft.

ICBC Leasing, a wholly-owned subsidiary of ICBC Group, the largest commercial bank in the world, is the largest Chinese lessor and top 5 lessor worldwide. ICBC Leasing has a total of 555 aircraft in portfolio, with 326 aircraft delivered. ICBC Leasing has nearly 70 operators from 33 countries and regions worldwide.

The LEAP engine is a product of CFM International, a 50/50 joint company between GE and Safran Aircraft Engines. 

Singapore Airlines’ SilkAir signs $1B LEAP-1B engine support agreement
SilkAir officials signed a 15-year Rate Per Flight Hour (RPFH) maintenance agreement with CFM International to support the LEAP-1B engines that will power its new fleet of 37 Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft. The agreement is valued at $1 billion at list price and includes a total of 80 engines.

Under the terms of the agreement, CFM guarantees maintenance costs for all SilkAir’s LEAP-1B engines on a dollar per engine flight hour basis.

SilkAir, which is the regional wing of Singapore Airlines, took delivery of its first Boeing 737 MAX 8 airplane on Sept. 27, 2017. Operations with the MAX aircraft began on Oct. 5, 2017, with the first flight travelling to Penang, Malaysia. Deliveries of the remaining aircraft are scheduled through 2024.