EVENDALE, OH - Air India has ordered GE engines valued at more than $2.2 billion at list price to power its new Boeing 777 and 787 fleets. The agreement was signed today at Asian Aerospace between Mrs. Sulekha Shrivastava, Southeast Asia Regional Manager for Air India, and David Joyce, Vice President of GE - Aviation's Commercial Engine Operation.
The airline has ordered eight 777-200LRs and 15 777-300ERs, all powered by the GE90-115B engine.
In addition, Air India ordered 27 787-8 aircraft powered by the GEnx engine. The GEnx is the best-selling engine on the 787 aircraft.
Delivery of the 777s is scheduled to begin in 2007, with the 787 deliveries to begin in 2008.
"Air India is one of the region's leading airlines, and we are thrilled to be part of its major fleet modernization," said Scott Donnelly, President, GE - Aviation. "Our GE90-115B engines have performed extremely well since entering service last year, and we anticipate the GEnx engine to experience similar results when it enters service."
Mr. V. Thulasidas, Chairman and Managing Director of Air India said, "The order of 50 Boeing 777 and 787 aircraft all powered by GE engines marks a major expansion of Air India's fleet. This along with the Boeing 737-800 aircraft for Air India Express, the budget airline, is the largest order for aircraft so far in India. We are excited at the prospect of the fuel efficiency and performance of the GE engines that Air India hopes to gain from."
The GE90-115B is certified at an unprecedented 115,000 pounds (512 kN) thrust as the powerplant for Boeing's 777-300ER, 777-200LR, and the upcoming 777 freighter. More than 225 GE90 engines were ordered in 2005 -- the best sales year ever for the engine.
Snecma of France, Avio SpA. of Italy, and IHI of Japan are revenue-sharing participants in the GE90 program.
The GEnx is based on the architecture of the highly successful GE90. It will succeed the CF6 engine family, which is GE's most reliable and best-selling engine on wide-body aircraft.
The GEnx provides significantly better fuel burn and payload performance than GE's CF6 engines. It is the world's only jet engine with a front fan case and fan blades made of composites, which provides for greater engine durability, weight reduction and lower operating costs. The fan blades will utilize GE90 composite technology that has performed remarkably well on GE90 engines, with no in-service issues for almost a decade. The GEnx will operate with 18 fan blades (50 percent fewer than the CF6) at noise levels lower than any large GE commercial engine currently in service. The GEnx also features a new combustor for efficient fuel mixing before ignition, resulting in significantly lower NOx levels.
Testing on the GEnx engine is scheduled to start in early 2006, with engine certification planned for 3rd quarter 2007 and entry into service on the Boeing 787 scheduled for 2008.
The GE90 and GEnx are part of GE's "ecomagination" product portfolio--GE's commitment to develop new, cost-effective technologies that enhance customers' environmental and operating performance.
GE - Aviation, an operating unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE), is one of the world's leading manufacturers of jet engines for civil and military aircraft. GE also is a world-leading provider of maintenance and support services for jet engines.