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ALAFCO Aviation Lease and Finance Company Selects GEnx Engine for its Boeing 787 Fleet

March 12, 2007

KUWAIT CITY, KUWAIT -- ALAFCO Aviation Lease and Finance Company (KSCC) has chosen the GEnx engine to power its 12 Boeing 787 Dreamliner with purchase rights to buy an additional six aircraft. The firm engine order is valued at more than $530 million (USD). 

"ALAFCO is pleased to announce the selection of the GEnx engine to power its new ordered B787-8 aircraft," said Mr. Ahmad A. Alzabin, ALAFCO chairman. "We at ALAFCO are very excited about this new engine and are confident that the GEnx will be another successful aircraft engine from the General Electric Company. The airlines that will lease aircraft from ALAFCO will benefit from the fuel savings and high reliability of this powerplant. GE is a reputable engine manufacturer that provides excellent product support which will make our B787 aircraft more desirable to airlines." 

"We're very pleased that ALAFCO has selected the GEnx engine for its new fleet," said Muhammad Al-Lamadani, sales pole general manager for GE Aviation. "ALAFCO has placed its confidence in the technical and commercial values of the engine, and we will work with them to ensure that the GEnx exceeds their expectations. Our cooperation is extended to helping ALAFCO place its purchased GE-powered aircraft." 

Based in Kuwait, ALAFCO is a growing aviation lease and finance company with customers in Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. 

The GEnx began flight-testing on GE's 747 flying testbed in February and has been undergoing ground tests since March 2006. Engine certification is scheduled for September 2007. 

The GEnx engine will power the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and 747-8 Intercontinental and Freighter aircraft. 

Based on the highly successful GE90 architecture, the GEnx engine will succeed GE's CF6 engine family, which is the most reliable and best-selling engine on wide-body aircraft. It provides significantly better specific fuel consumption and payload performance than GE's CF6 engines. 

The GEnx engine 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. 

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. 

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 also is a world-leading provider of maintenance and support services for jet engines.