DAE Places $270 Million CFM56-5B Engine Order to Power 20 New Airbus A320s

Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) has selected CFM56-5B engines to power 20 new Airbus A320 family aircraft. The engine order is valued at approximately $270 million U.S. at list price and DAE is scheduled to begin taking delivery in early 2011. These 20 aircraft are part of a 70-aircraft order the leasing company announced in July 2008.

George Mushahwar, Acting Chief Executive Officer, DAE Group said: “DAE aims to deliver superior service and quality to its customers and achieve its business objectives by working with the leading manufacturers in the sector. With this order, we continue our commitment to excellence in technology, quality and lifecycle costs across our fleet.”
“We are excited to build on our previous order of 70 CFM56-7B powered B737NG aircraft, as we continue to achieve our vision of actively growing our world wide leasing business,” said Bob Genise, Chief Executive Officer of DAE.
“We are delighted to be able to offer the unrivalled CFM56-5B for DAE’s A320 fleet,” said David Joyce, President and CEO of CFM parent company GE Aviation. “We are confident that the reliability and lower overall cost of ownership of our engine will prove to be a significant asset to DAE’s customers.”

All of DAE’s CFM56-5B engines are of the Tech Insertion configuration. This configuration was introduced in September 2007 and, to date, the fleet of over 800 engines in service worldwide has logged nearly 2 million flight hours and more than 1 million flight cycles without a single engine-related event.
CFM56 Tech Insertion provides operators with a 1 percent improvement in fuel consumption over the life of the product, compared to the base CFM56-5B engine. This lower fuel consumption also significantly lowers CO2 emissions. Improved analytic design tools have also enabled CFM to further optimize the Tech Insertion combustor such that it emits 25 percent lower NOx emissions. As a result, the engine meets the current International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Committee of Aviation Environment Protection standards (CAEP /6) that took effect in early 2008.
Over the engine’s life cycle, Tech Insertion will also provide operators with longer time on wing and will lower maintenance costs between five and 12 percent, depending on the thrust rating. These benefits are achieved through improvements to the high-pressure compressor and the high- and low-pressure turbines.
CFM56-5B engines are a product of CFM International, a 50/50 joint company between Snecma (SAFRAN Group) and General Electric Company.

About GE Aviation
GE Aviation, an operating unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE), is a world-leading provider of jet engines, components and integrated systems for commercial and military aircraft. GE Aviation has a global service network to support these offerings. For more information, visit us at www.ge.com/aviation.

About DAE Capital
DAE Capital is part of Dubai Aerospace Enterprise, a fast developing global aerospace, manufacturing and services corporation. Being established as an aircraft leasing and finance business, DAE Capital aims to become one of the largest aircraft leasing companies serving an international market, inside the next decade. It aims to support the incredible demand for new aircraft globally, with a balanced quality portfolio of single-aisle and wide-body aircraft.

DAE Capital offers clients and investors a proposition few others can match. As one of the divisions of DAE, the group provides a synergized cluster of aerospace services, allowing customers to benefit from a world-class shared knowledge and service pool.  Its unrivalled position allows it to provide advanced value-added services to airlines in conjunction with the other DAE segments such as engineering, maintenance, repair and overhaul. DAE Capital seeks to become an integral part of the global

About DAE
Dubai Aerospace Enterprise is building a globally recognized aerospace corporation with operations from aircraft leasing, maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO), and Aviation IT solutions. It is creating an innovative business that builds on Dubai’s dynamism and continuous growth in Aviation.

Headquartered in Dubai, the group is growing through a series of phased developments and acquisitions to become a global player and to produce an integrated aerospace cluster, based at Dubai World Central – the new 140 square kilometer airport and logistics city being constructed in Jebel Ali, Dubai. It is forming international partnerships at the highest level of industry with the aim of establishing one of the most innovative and successful businesses in the global aerospace industry within the next decade.

About CFM
CFM combines the resources, engineering expertise and product support of two major aircraft engine manufacturers: Snecma (SAFRAN Group) of France, and GE of the U.S.

CFM’s goal is to maintain the trust of airlines and airframers and contribute to the operational success of its customers. In addition, the company keeps the CFM56 family of engines the best in their class by infusing newly matured technology into the existing fleet.