Pegasus seals $4.3 billion deal with CFM

Pegasus Airlines has finalised its order for CFM International’s advanced LEAP-1A engine to power 100 Airbus A320neo/ A321neo aircraft. The agreement is valued at approximately $4.3 billion, including the long-term service agreement.

Under the terms of the 20-year Rate per Flight Hour (RPFH) maintenance agreement,

CFM will guarantee maintenance costs on a dollar per engine flight hour basis. The engine selection was announced in July 2013 and the airline is schedule to begin taking delivery of its new aircraft in 2016.

The Istanbul-based low cost airline has been a CFM customer since it began operations in 1990 and currently, the airline operates a fleet of 45 CFM-powered Boeing 737 aircraft on scheduled routes to 76 domestic and international destinations throughout Europe, Russia, Central Asia, Caucasus, the Middle East, and Africa.

The first LEAP-1A engine to test started for the first time on 4 September 2013, two days ahead of the schedule set in early 2010. The engine performed flawlessly and logged more than 300 hours and 400 cycles before coming off the test stand. The next major milestone is the icing tests that will take place in 2014. CFM is performing the test early, more than one year ahead of the engine certification timeline, to ensure that any potential issues are identified well in advance. The foundation of the LEAP engine is heavily rooted in advanced aerodynamics, environmental, and materials technology development programmes. It will provide 15 percent better fuel consumption and an equivalent reduction in CO2 emissions compared to today’s best CFM engine, along with a 50 percent reduction in oxides of nitrogen emissions, and up to a 15 decibel reduction in noise. All this technology brings with it CFM’s legendary reliability and low maintenance costs.