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