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The First GEnx-Powered B787 Delivered to China Southern

June 04, 2013

Guangzhou - China Southern Airlines welcomed its first GEnx-powered Boeing 787 Dreamliner in a special ceremony held Sunday in Guangzhou, China. This is the first of eight Boeing 787 aircraft to be delivered to China Southern this year. China Southern ordered a total 10 Boeing 787 Dreamliners and selected GEnx-1B engines to power these aircraft.

China Southern also signed an OnPointSM solution agreement with GE Aviation for its GEnx fleet. As part of this agreement, GE Aviation will provide the maintenance, repair and overhaul for the GEnx engine fleet.

"Today is a great day of celebration for the delivery of the GEnx-powered Boeing 787 Dreamliner to China Southern, which marks the first B787 delivered to China," said Chuck Nugent, general manager of the GEnx Program at GE Aviation. "We believe the dramatically improved fuel efficiency, performance, emissions and durability of the GEnx engine brought by the advanced technologies and materials will bring significant benefits to China Southern."

"We're so excited to receive our first Boeing 787 Dreamliner powered by GEnx engines," said Tan Wangeng, president and chief executive officer of China Southern Airlines. "The Boeing 787 features remarkable craftsmanship, technology, greenness and excellence experience. The B787 can provide our customers with an exceptional flight experience in its elegant and personalized cabin. Its low fuel burn consumption and high efficiency fit the modern green flight concept perfectly well. Our Boeing 787 Dreamliners' entry into service will certainly help the airline further tap into the international market, improve our comprehensive competitiveness and provide a more enjoyable travel experience to all our passengers."

China Southern is the largest airline in terms of size of aircraft fleet, the flight route network and volume of passenger traffic in China and currently operates more than 500 passenger aircraft and freighters. The airline is a significant GE customer with a fleet including Boeing 777s, 737s and Airbus A320s powered respectively by GE and CFM International (a 50/50 joint company of GE and Snecma). China Southern operates more than 1,930 daily flights to 193 destinations in 35 countries and regions. Through close cooperation with its SkyTeam partners, China Southern' global route network spans 1,000 destinations to 187 countries and regions and nearly every major world metropolis. The airline will deploy the new 787s for its expanding international routes.

The GEnx-1B engine is the best-selling engine on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The engine has accumulated more than 58,000 flight hours and more than 13,000 cycles since entering service in last year. Almost 850 GEnx-1B engines have been sold to close to 30 customers.

GE Aviation has been ramping up production of the GEnx engines over the last few years and plans to produce more than 200 GEnx engines in 2013.

The GEnx engine family is the fastest-selling engine in GE Aviation history with more than 1,300 engines on order. Compared to GE's CF6 engine, the GEnx engine offers up to 15 percent better fuel efficiency, which translates to 15 percent less CO2. The GEnx's innovative twin-annular pre-swirl (TAPS) combustor dramatically reduces NOx gases as much as 55 percent below today's regulatory limits and other regulated gases as much as 90 percent. Based on the ratio of decibels to pounds of thrust, the GEnx is the quietest engine GE produces due to the large, more efficient fan blades that operate at slower tip speed, resulting in about 30 percent lower noise levels.

The GEnx is part of GE's "ecomagination" product portfolio - GE's business strategy to develop new, cost-effective technologies that enhance customers' environmental and operating performance.

Revenue-sharing participants on the GEnx are IHI Corporation of Japan, Avio SpA. of Italy, Volvo Aero of Sweden, MTU of Germany, TechSpace Aero of Belgium, Snecma (SAFRAN Group) of France and Samsung Techwin of Korea.

GE Aviation, an operating unit of GE (NYSE: GE), is a world-leading provider of jet and turboprop engines, components and integrated systems for commercial, military, business and general aviation aircraft. GE Aviation has a global service network to support these offerings.