Story ID: 
Spring Airlines Orders More CFM56-5B Engines
By: Charles Alcock
Caption: 
Word Count: 245
China’s Spring Airlines has ordered CFM56-5B engines to power a pair of new Airbus A320s that it is due to received in January and July 2014. Engine maker CFM International announced the $40 million deal on November 14 at Airshow China 2012. The Shanghai-based low-cost carrier has CFM56-5B turbofans on all of its existing 33 A320s, which it operates on routes to Japan, Thailand, Macau and Hong Kong.

“We very much appreciate the long-term support CFM has been providing us and we are happy with the outstanding performance of the CFM56 engines,” said Spring Airlines CEO Zhang Xiuzhi. “We look forward to strengthening this relationship in the future.”

The latest CFM56-5B engines feature the latest Performance Improvement Package, which gives a 0.5-percent improvement in fuel burn and reduced maintenance costs.

Meanwhile, CFM has confirmed that the November 13 contracts awarded to Comac for 50 more Leap-1C-powered C919 airliners took total orders and commitments for the Leap family turbofans to 4,352 engines with a combined value of $52 billion. CFM International is a joint venture between GE Aviation and Snecma.

Separately, CFM’s Aero Engine Maintenance Training Center (AEMTC) has graduated its 10,000th student at Guanghan in China’s Sichuan province. The facility has appproximately 700 to 800 students each year and is a joint venture with the Civil Aviation Administration of China, the Civil Aviation Supplies Holding Company and the Civil Aviation Flying University of China.