At a recent special ceremony in London, Air Arabia formalized its order for CFM56-5B engines to power its fleet of 44 Airbus A320 family aircraft.
This new engine selection, originally announced in July, will more than double the airlines’ CFM56-5B powered A320 fleet.
Air Arabia, the first and largest low-cost carrier in the Middle East and North Africa, recently set a new world’s record, achieving 30,000 flight hours in just 6 years with one of its CFM56-5B-powered A320 aircraft.
“Air Arabia enjoys a long track record of operational excellence,” said Adel Ali, Group Chief Executive Officer of Air Arabia. “We remain focused on offering the best value to our customers, which means optimum utilization of our resources, including the state-of-the-art Airbus A320 aircraft with CFM56 engines, which represents the heart of our fleet.”
The airline, which is the winner of the A320 Family Operational Excellence Award by Airbus, currently operates a total fleet of 23 CFM56-5B-powered A320s and the airline's confirmed order of 44 A320 aircraft is scheduled to begin delivery later this year.
CFM56-5B engines are a product of CFM International, a 50/50 joint company between Snecma (Safran Group) and GE.