Air India announced on February 14 that it is buying 400 single-aisle and 70 twin-aisle commercial aircraft. To power the larger airliners — Boeing 787 and 777X twin-engine jets — the carrier signed an agreement with GE Aerospace for 40 GEnx-1B and 20 GE9X engines, plus engine services. Air India will also buy more than 800 LEAP engines from CFM International, a 50-50 joint company between GE and Safran Aircraft Engines, to outfit the smaller planes in the order, 210 Airbus A320/A321neo aircraft and 190 Boeing 737 MAX-family aircraft.

Two CFM LEAP-1A engines successfully completed a five-hour, 29-minute flight powering the new Airbus A321neo, paving the way for delivery of the first LEAP engines on the largest member of the A320neo family in 2017.