In conjunction with the state visit of the French President Emmanuel Macron to India, Akasa Air and CFM International have announced an agreement to purchase CFM LEAP-1B engines to power 150 Boeing 737 MAX airplanes, the sale of which was announced last week. The agreement also includes spare engines and a services contract.

CFM's parent companies GE Aerospace and Safran Aircraft Engines both have bases in Gloucestershire.

The Mumbai-based operator launched its operations in August 2022 and had previously ordered a total of 76 LEAP-1B- powered 737-8 aircraft, of which 22 are currently in service.

Vinay Dube, founder and CEO of Akasa Air, said: "This significant, long-term agreement is testament to the confidence that CFM International has in Akasa Air. Continuing to partner with CFM as our engine maintenance provider not only reaffirms our focus on operational reliability but equally underscores Akasa Air's relentless pursuit of world class safety.

"With CFM as our long-term engine maintenance provider, we remain confident in our path to becoming one of the top 30 leading airlines in the world, by the turn of this decade," he added.

This new order grows CFM's footprint in India, with more than 400 CFM-powered aircraft in service and 2,500 LEAP engines in the backlog. Both CFM's parent companies GE Aerospace and Safran Aircraft Engines have also significantly invested in India to build state-of-the-art facilities dedicated to LEAP production and maintenance, while signing strategic partnerships with Indian aerospace companies as part of the "Make in India" policy.

Gaël Méheust, president & CEO of CFM International, said: "Our customers, including Akasa, are seeing 15 to 20% better fuel efficiency with their LEAP-powered fleets and it has the highest reliability and daily utilisation rates in this thrust class.

"This order will continue to bring these benefits to Akasa and support their continued growth, as well as play an important role in India's economic development."

The LEAP engine family has the fastest accumulation of flight hours in commercial aviation history, amassing more than 45 million engine flight hours and 18.7 million flight cycles.

Since entering service in 2016, the LEAP engine has helped operators save more than 30 million tons of CO2 compared to the same flights with previous generation engines.