EVENDALE, OHIO - GE-IAI Aviation Services International, LLC, a limited liability company formed by GE Engine Services, Inc. and Bedek Aviation Group, a subsidiary of Israel Aircraft Industries Ltd. (IAI), has won a launch order for its aircraft/engine maintenance services worth more than $70 million.

Under terms of the agreement, GE Engine Services and IAI/Bedek Aviation Group will maintain the airframes and engines of Translux Cargo Lion's two GE CF6-50C2-powered McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 aircraft.

GE Engine Services, a part of GE Aircraft Engines, the world's leading jet engine manufacturer and services provider, will perform the engine maintenance at its Prestwick, Scotland, overhaul and repair shop. Airframe work will be performed by IAI's Bedek Aviation Group, a world-recognized, full-service provider for commercial airlines, at its Ben Gurion International Airport facility in Israel.

The work begins November 1, 1999.

"We are pleased that Translux has shown confidence in the cooperative venture between GE Engine Services and IAI," said Bill Vareschi, president and CEO of GE Engine Services. "Combining the resources of GE and IAI allows one-stop aircraft and engine maintenance services."

IAI , which earned $2 billion in revenues in 1998, and GE Engine Services, with revenues of nearly $5 billion in 1998, agreed to form GE-IAI Aviation Services International, LLC in February 1999, to provide comprehensive aircraft and engine services to customers worldwide.

GE Aircraft Engines has a strong history of industrial cooperation with Israel, establishing more than $700 million in cooperative efforts with Israeli companies in the 1990s.