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General Electric gets Air India deal
New
Delhi: National carrier Air-India has placed an order valued at 2.2
billion dollars with US aero engine major General Electric to power its
yet to be acquired fleet of Boeing aircraft. The agreement was signed
on Tuesday between Air India South East Asia Regional Manager Sulekha
Shrivastava, and GE-Aviation's Commercial Engine Operation Vice President
David Joyce, General Electric said in a statement here today. Last month,
Air India had placed a Rs 35,000 crore order with Boeing Co. to acquire
68 aircraft. The airline has ordered eight 777-200LRs and 15 777-300ERs,
all powered by the GE90-115B engine. In addition, Air India ordered 27
787-8 aircraft powered by the GEnx engine. The GEnx is the best-selling
engine on the 787 aircraft. Delivery of the 777s is scheduled to begin
in 2007, with the 787 deliveries to begin in 2008. "Air India is one of
the region's leading airlines, and we are thrilled to be part of its major
fleet modernization," said Scott Donnelly, President, GE - Aviation. "Our
GE90-115B engines have performed extremely well since entering service
last year, and we anticipate the GEnx engine to experience similar results
when it enters service," he said. V. Thulasidas, Chairman and Managing
Director of Air India said "The order of 50 Boeing 777 and 787 aircraft
all powered by GE engines marks a major expansion of Air India's fleet.
This along with the Boeing 737-800 aircraft for Air India Express, the
budget airline, is the largest order for aircraft so far in India. We
are excited at the prospect of the fuel efficiency and performance of
the GE engines that Air India hopes to gain from." The GE90-115B has a
thrust of 115,000 pounds and has been certified as the power plant for
Boeing's 777-300ER, 777-200LR, and the upcoming 777 freighter. More than
225 GE90 engines were ordered in 2005, the statement said. GE nx will
provide significantly better fuel burn and payload performance enabling
the aircraft for greater engine durability, weight reduction and lower
operating costs, it added.
-Feb
21, 2006