AirAsia chooses CFM engines

AirAsia chooses CFM engines

KUALA LUMPUR: AirAsia, the region's top budget carrier, has
selected engines made by CFM International to power the 60 Airbus
A320 aircraft it has ordered, a report said.

The deal for the CFM56-586/P engines, each of which has a
catalog price of 36 million ringgit (US$9.47 million), would be
signed at the Paris Air Show next month, the Business Times
newspaper said on Saturday.

But the head of AirAsia on Sunday declined comment on the
report.

"No comment. We will make an announcement (at the) end of the
month," chief executive officer Tony Fernandes told AFP.

CFM International was formed in 1971 by General Electric of
the United States and the French state-owned aerospace group
Snecma.

Other low cost carriers that have chosen CFM engines include
Irish low-cost airline Ryanair.

AirAsia is the single largest buyer of the A320 in the Asia
Pacific region.

Delivery of the first A320 will begin late this year and
continue through until 2011, the company said. --AFP