With historic win on Chinese large aircraft, GE and SAFRAN Group partnership enters new era
21-Dec-2009 General Electric Company is proud to announce that CFM International – the 50/50 venture between GE and SAFRAN Group – has been selected to power China’s newest commercial aircraft in development, the C919.
Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC), the developer and manufacturer of the C919, selected CFM as the sole Western jet engine to launch China's new single-aisle aircraft. COMAC forecasts a potential market of more than 2,000 aircraft over 20 years once the C919 enters airline service.
"We expect that China will become the largest commercial aviation market in the world over the next two decades and it's exciting for GE to be part of that growth," said Jeff Immelt, chairman and CEO of General Electric Company. "This historic decision by COMAC will result in decades of collaboration - and is a true testament to innovation and technology that the CFM partnership delivers to the marketplace."
CFM has developed jet engines for more than 35 years, and today is one of the most successful aerospace joint ventures with more than 20,000 engines delivered.
CFM engines power today's modern single-aisle aircraft from Boeing and Airbus, and the company will now develop its first engine to incorporate next-generation technologies by launching the LEAP-X1C engine for the C919 single-aisle aircraft.
"In 2008, GE and SAFRAN Group extended the CFM joint venture through 2040 to provide confidence that customers could count on CFM today, tomorrow, and for the future generation of airplanes," said David Joyce, president and CEO of GE Aviation. "We are very pleased in COMAC's confidence in CFM to deliver the most advanced engine from the strongest jet engine partnership in aviation."
COMAC selected a complete Integrated Propulsion System (IPS) for the C919 from GE and SAFRAN. CFM will provide the engines, and, Nexcelle will provide the nacelle and thrust reverser. Nexcelle is a 50/50 joint venture between GE's Middle River Aircraft Systems and SAFRAN Group's Aircelle.
In recent years, GE Aviation has dramatically expanded its support of China aviation. GE is already collaborating with COMAC on its new ARJ21 regional jet, which is powered by GE's CF34 engine. More than 1,000 airliners in China operate with GE or CFM engines.