Wednesday, December 23, 2009

GE jet engine joint venture to power China's new plane

GE jet engine joint venture to power China's new plane

One of the most advanced jet engines soon to enter service has just been selected as the sole western power plant for China’s new C919 single-aisle, 150-seat passenger jet. Made by CFM International, which is a 50/50 joint venture between GE and SAFRAN Group, the engine could end up powering more than 2,000 planes over the next 20 years based on estimates by the developer and manufacturer of the C919, Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, or COMAC. As Bloomberg News reports in its story on December 21, with narrowbody jetliners making up more than 60 percent of all commercial aircraft, “manufacturers have estimated the market for new engines as replacements or on newly designed single-aisle aircraft at $30 billion to $50 billion.”

The deal marks a new era for the joint venture, which last year extended its partnership through 2040 in order to power the next-generation of single-aisle commercial aircraft. CFM has already delivered 20,000 engines over four decades — making it the most popular airline jet engine ever. In fact, a CFM-powered airplane takes off every 2.5 seconds.

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