PARIS, France — 10 April 2018 — Saudi Arabia’s leading low-cost carrier, flynas, today signed a Letter of Agreement with CFM International for the purchase of 160 LEAP-1A engines to power 80 Airbus A320neo aircraft, along with a long-term services agreement on a pay by-the-hour basis.
The ceremony was attended by Chairman Ayed Al Jeaid and CEO Bander Al Mohanna of flynas along with and Philippe Couteaux, executive vice president of Sales and Marketing for CFM parent company Safran Aircraft Engines.
Once finalized, the engine purchase commitment and the services agreement are valued at $6.3 billion U.S. at list price. The aircraft order was announced in January 2017 and the first deliveries of the LEAP-1A-powered-A320neo are scheduled to begin by the end of this year. Under the terms of the service agreement, CFM Services will guarantee maintenance cost on a dollar per flight hour basis.
“We are extremely pleased to begin a new chapter in our relationship with CFM International,” said Bander Al Mohanna, chief executive officer, NAS Holding Group. “We look forward to introducing the LEAP-1A engine into our fleet to allow us to further optimize our operational efficiency.”
flynas has been a CFM customer since it began operations in 2007 with leased CFM56-5B-powered A320ceo. The Saudi carrier currently operates a fleet of 28 aircraft.
“It is an honor to extend our partnership with flynas by providing the LEAP-1A engine,” said Philippe Couteaux, executive vice president of Sales and Marketing for CFM parent company Safran Aircraft Engines. “We look forward to bringing them all the benefits of the advanced LEAP engine to its fleet as part of the airline’s continuous growth in the Middle East.”
The LEAP engine entered commercial service in August 2016 and is providing more than 40 operators with a 15 percent improvement in fuel efficiency, with an equivalent reduction in CO2 emissions, coupled with lower noise and NOx emissions. To date, the fleet in service has logged more than 900,000 engine flight hours and 450,000 engine flight cycles while maintaining CFM’s industry-leading reliability.