Premium – Arkia selects LEAP

Yesterday Israel’s second largest airline, Arkia, selected the CFM LEAP engine for its A320neo order.  The airline only has four on order, so it is a small order.  But the implications of this are far bigger.In the PR from CFM, we see this: “We chose the LEAP engine after a very thorough evaluation,” said Nir Dagan, President & CEO of Arkia.  “CFM has a good reputation for customer support, reliability and low cost of ownership; from everything we have seen, the engine is also delivering the promised fuel efficiency.  All of these factors are very important to us and we expect this engine to deliver significant benefits to our A321neo fleet.”

What was this thorough evaluation?  The airline won’t talk.  But we know Arkia signed for ten  E195-E2 last year at Farnborough.  The structure of the deal is still being worked on.  But is important to note the E2 comes with the P&W GTF.  Ergo, the A320neo order, you would think, favored the P&W GTF as well.