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PARIS --- During the visit to India by French President Jacques Chirac, Indian (formerly known as Indian Airlines) announced its selection of the CFM56-5B engine to power its new fleet of 43 Airbus A320 family aircraft.
This was not the first CFM engine order for the airline, since it recently began operating A319 twinjets powered by CFM56-5B engines.
The delivery of the CFM56-5B engines for the A320s will stretch from the end of this year to 2010. The contract is worth more than $500 million at list price.
Moreover, the new low-cost Indian airline, SpiceJet, signed a firm order for ten Boeing 737-800 and -900 twinjets, along with ten options, at the Singapore Air Show yesterday.
Boeing 737s are powered exclusively by CFM56-7 engines.
The CFM56 engine is produced by CFM International, a 50/50 partnership of General Electric and Snecma, part of the SAFRAN group.
SAFRAN is an international high-technology group with four core businesses: aerospace propulsion, aircraft equipment, defense security, and communications. It has 58,000 employees in over 30 countries, and annual revenues exceeding 10 billion euros. The SAFRAN group comprises a number of companies with prestigious brand names, and holds, alone or in partnership, global or European leadership positions in all of its markets.
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