Article from BTNews 9 OCTOBER 2017
Cathay picks LEAP-1A
An order valued at nearly US$1bn at list price for the advanced LEAP-1A engine has been announced by the Cathay Pacific Group and CFM International to power Cathay’s 32 new Airbus A321neo aircraft. Delivery is scheduled from 2020.
The aircraft will be operated by Cathay’s regional carrier Cathay Dragon to replace and modernise its existing single-aisle fleet of 15 A320s and eight A321s, while supporting the airline’s continued expansion in the Asia-Pacific region.
The group has also signed a long-term rate per flight hour (RPFH) maintenance agreement with CFM, with CFM guaranteeing maintenance costs on a dollar per engine flight hour basis.
CFM president and CEO Gaël Méheust said the LEAP engine family had had an exceptional entry into commercial service, with 18 customers currently operating more than 85 aircraft on four continents.
Overall, he added, the fleet had logged nearly 150,000 flight cycles and 300,000 flight hours while maintaining CFM’s reliability and the highest utilisation rate in this thrust class.
“The LEAP is providing operators a 15% improvement in fuel consumption and CO2 emissions compared to today’s best CFM56 engine, along with dramatic reductions in engine noise,” Méheust added.
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