Will Power All Five 787-8s
Aeromexico has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with
General Electric Company for the purchase of GEnx engines for the
Boeing 787-8 aircraft the carrier ordered earlier this week.
Aeromexico will also lease three GEnx-powered 787-8 aircraft from
International Lease Finance Corporation.
In addition, Aeromexico has signed an OnPoint Solutions
agreement for the maintenance and overhaul of the GEnx fleet. The
combined value of the engine purchase and services contract to GE
is valued at more than $100 million.
"Aeromexico and GE have a strong relationship, and we look
forward to working together as the airline becomes the launch
customer in Latin America for GEnx-powered 787 aircraft," said
Scott Donnelly, President and CEO of GE Aviation.
Mexico's largest airline, Aeromexico is a strong GE customer. By
year-end, the airline will operate 32 Boeing 737-Next Generation
aircraft, powered by CFM56-7 engines. CFM International is a 50/50
joint company between Snecma (Safran Group) and GE. More recently,
Aeromexico began operating GE90-powered Boeing 777 aircraft.
"Aeromexico selected the GEnx engine because of its low cost of
ownership, excellent fuel burn and payload benefits," said Andres
Conesa, CEO of Aeromexico. "The GEnx-powered Boeing 787s will help
our airline as we expand our network into Europe and Asia."
The GEnx is the best-selling engine for the Boeing 787. Selected
for three new wide-body aircraft under development, the GEnx has
orders exceeding 780 engines from 25 customers.
Based on the highly successful GE90
architecture, the GEnx engine will succeed GE's CF6 engine family,
which is the most reliable and best-selling engine on wide-body
aircraft. It provides significantly better specific fuel
consumption and payload performance than GE's CF6 engines. Testing
began earlier this year on the GEnx engine, with engine
certification scheduled for 2007.
The GEnx engine is the world's only jet engine with both a front
fan case and fan blades made of composites, which provide for
greater engine durability, weight reduction and lower operating
costs. The fan blades will utilize GE90 composite technology that
has performed extremely well, with no routine on-wing maintenance
required and no in-service issues for more than a decade.
The GEnx is part of GE's "ecomagination" product portfolio --
GE's commitment to develop new, cost-effective technologies that
enhance customers' environmental and operating performance.