Hainan Airlines received its first GEnx-1B-powered Boeing 787 Dreamliner at 11:00AM in Haikou on July 7th. It was the first of four B787 Dreamliners Hainan will receive this year.
"It is an exciting month in China for the GEnx engine. This is the third GEnx-powered Boeing 787 delivered to China following the two deliveries to China Southern," said Weiming Xiang, general manager of GE Aviation, Greater China Region. "We feel very proud that China Southern, Hainan and Xiamen Airlines have all selected GEnx-1B engines for their B787 fleet, which demonstrates the confidence these Chinese operators have in the engine. We treasure their confidence and will ensure our customers receive our best service and support for their operation."
"We welcome the first new B787 aircraft powered by GEnx engines that joined our fleet," said Xie Haoming, vice president of Hainan Airlines. "We believe the higher fuel efficiency of the GEnx engines will bring the benefit of low cost of ownership and also help with our environmental efforts with low emissions and noise levels."
Hainan selected GEnx-1B engines in 2006 to power its eight B787 and added another two aircraft to the fleet last year, which brought its B787 fleet to 10 in total. Hainan Airlines will operate the first two aircraft on domestic routes connecting Beijing to Haikou and Beijing to Shanghai. They will be in service in the international long-haul routes to North America connecting Beijing to Chicago, Beijing to Seattle and Beijing to Toronto in the future. This will help Hainan to improve its competitiveness in the international market. All the GEnx-1B engines powering this fleet have been covered by GE's long-term service agreement. As part of the service agreement, Hainan's GEnx engine fleet will be maintained in the latest configuration to ensure they remain the most fuel efficient engines in their class.
The GEnx-1B engine is the best-selling engine on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The engine has accumulated more than 60,000 flight hours and more than 14,000 cycles since entering service in last year. About 900 GEnx-1B engines have been sold 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 40 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.
Headquartered in Haikou, Hainan Province, Hainan Airlines is the one of the fastest developing airlines in China and maintains an excellent safety record and a strong service reputation. Hainan Airlines operates more than 500 domestic and international routes through China, Asia, Europe, the Americas, South Pacific islands and Africa. The Boeing 787 fleet will be deployed on Hainan's expanding international routes.
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.