GE: GEnx Orders Top $10 Billion, Making it Fastest-Selling Big Engine in GE Aviation History

First Choice Airways has purchased an additional four Boeing 787 Dreamliners, powered by the fast-selling GEnx engine—taking total GEnx orders to 830 for 28 customers, with a list price value of more than $10 billion.

This most recent First Choice engine order is valued at more than $125 million. This is First Choice’s third order for GEnx-powered Boeing 787s, bringing its total order to 12 aircraft. First Choice Airways, a subsidiary of First Choice Holidays PLC, was the first GEnx customer. Aircraft deliveries to First Choice begin in 2009.

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. The GEnx’s composite and combustion technologies are unique to the commercial aviation industry.

“Having taken the decision to increase our commitment to long-haul destinations, we wanted to ensure we could do this in the most cost-effective and environmentally sound way, while offering our customers new destinations and even more comfortable travel," said Dermot Blastland, managing director of First Choice Mainstream Holidays, on selecting the GE-powered 787s.

““This decision demonstrates the confidence First Choice has in the engine-aircraft combination,” said Tom Brisken, general manager of the GEnx program. “First Choice was our first GEnx customer, and the airline has continued to build upon its original 787 fleet.”

Since February, the GEnx has been flight-testing on GE's 747 flying testbed. GEnx development engines have accumulated more than 1,000 hours of testing in ground tests since March 2006. Engine certification is scheduled for later this year.

Based on the highly successful GE90 architecture, the GEnx engine is one of the quietest, most fuel-efficient jet engines ever. It will succeed GE's CF6 family, the best-selling engine on wide-body aircraft. The GEnx will provide significantly better specific fuel consumption and payload performance than CF6 engines.

The GEnx engine, which will power both the 787 and the 747-8, 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.

GE Aviation, an operating unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE), is one of the world's leading manufacturers of jet engines for civil and military aircraft. GE Aviation’s engine backlog by the end of 2006 reached $14.2 billion, compared to $9.4 billion by the end of 2005. GE also is a world-leading provider of maintenance and support services for jet engines. Visit us at www.ge.com/aviation.