KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Malindo Air became the world’s first airline to introduce CFM International’s LEAP-1B engine into commercial service powering a Boeing 737 MAX 8 on its inaugural flight OD803 from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore on May 22. The airline ordered a total of eight 737 MAX aircraft.
Chandran Rama Muthy, Malindo Air’s CEO said, “We are thrilled to be the world’s first airline to take delivery and operate the LEAP-1B-powered 737 MAX 8. The Boeing Next-Generation 737 fleet has served Malindo well in its growth and we believe that the 737 MAX aircraft will become the center piece of our fleet. These new aircraft offer lower operating costs with better fuel efficiency due to its new LEAP-1B engines and aerodynamic improvements will allow us to go to further destinations and will play a key role in providing lower air fares to our customers.”
“We are honored to share this important milestone with Malindo Air,” said Gaël Méheust, president and CEO of CFM International. “This airline has achieved some remarkable things in just four short years and we can’t wait to see what comes next. It is exciting to be a part of history with one of Asia’s fastest-growing airline.”
The LEAP-1B is on track to provide operators with a 15 percent improvement in fuel consumption and CO2 emissions compared to the CFM56-7B engines in service today, along with dramatic reductions in engine noise and exhaust gaseous emissions. All this technology is focused on providing better utilization, including CFM’s legendary reliability out of the box; greater asset availability; enhanced time on wing margins to help keep maintenance costs low; and minimized maintenance actions, all supported by sophisticated analytics that enable CFM to provide tailored, predictive maintenance over the life of the product.
About Malindo Air
Malindo Air is a Malaysian airline with main hubs at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport and the convenient KL downtown city airport Subang Skypark in Selangor, Malaysia. The airline took to the skies in March 2013 with domestic flights and has since grown to operate routes to all major airports in Malaysia and across the continents of Asia and Australia. The fleet itself has grown exponentially to 16 ATR72-600 and 29 Boeing Next-Generation 737 as of 30 April 2017
Today, the airline operates over 800 flights weekly across a continuously growing network of about 43 routes in the region. More recently, the airline won CAPA’s 2016 Asia Pacific Regional Airline of the Year, TOP Recognition – Malaysia SME® Preferred Airline Partner, Airline of the Year (Passenger) at the KLIA Awards 2014 and Top Performing Airline 2015 by Travelport.
About CFM International
LEAP-1B engines are a product of CFM International, a 50/50 joint company between GE and Safran Aircraft Engines and the world’s leading supplier of commercial aircraft engines. Through April, the company has garnered orders and commitments for more than 12,230 LEAP engines, making it the fastest-selling engine in aviation history.