India's youngest commercial airline, Akasa Air, has announced an order for more than 300 CFM LEAP-1B engines. The deal, signed during French President Emmanuel Macron's visit, also includes spare engines and service contracts.
Last week, the airline also announced a fresh order of 150
Boeing 737 MAX aircraft at WINGS India 2024 in Hyderabad, making it the first airline to announce such an order on Indian soil.
The order with CFM International will power Akasa's new order. The deal amount has not been revealed.
Vinay Dube, Founder, and CEO of Akasa Air said, "We have a long-term relationship with CFM International; these engines give us operational reliability. We remain confident in our path to becoming one of the top 30 leading airlines in the world by the end of this decade.”
Gaël Méheust, President & CEO of CFM International, added, "LEAP engines offer 15-20% better fuel efficiency and better daily utilisation rates."
Currently, there are 400 CFM engines in service with a delivery backlog of 2,500 LEAP engines. Recently, GE Aerospace and Safran Aircraft Engines announced an MRO facility for LEAP engines, which also caters to the production of certain parts. In July 2023, Air India placed an order for 800 LEAP engines.
Akasa Air's first order consisted of 76 Boeing MAX aircraft. At the Paris Air Show 2023, the airline placed another order for four more Boeing 737-8 aircraft. Akasa had earlier placed an order with CFM engines for its fleet.
Akasa Air now has a firm order of 226 Boeing 737, which is set to be delivered by 2032. Akasa currently operates with a fleet of 22 B737-8 MAX aircraft.
Earlier in January this year, exclusively speaking to CNBC-TV18, Dube said, "The new deliveries will begin from mid-2027 to 2032. Our order gives us the ability to choose between MAX 8-200 or the Max 10. The new order opens a new growth phase for us."
(Edited by : Anand Singha)
