Saudi Arabian Airlines, the national carrier of Saudi Arabia, has signed an exclusive 10-year materials agreement with GE Aviation Services.
The deal covers the airline’s entire fleet of 100 purchased and leased CFM56-5B engines powering its Airbus A320 fleet. 
Under the terms of the agreement, which is valued at approximately $300 million, Saudi Arabian Airlines will exclusively use genuine CFM parts in the maintenance and overhaul of this fleet, a statement said.
Saudi Arabian formalised an agreement to purchase 22 aircraft recently and plans to lease an additional 28 CFM56-5B-powered A320 aircraft.  The airline is scheduled to receive the first of these airplanes in the third quarter of 2009, with deliveries continuing through late 2012.
Khalid Almolhem, director general of Saudi Arabian Airlines, said: “We very much look forward to introducing our CFM56-5B fleet and enjoying best-in-class reliability and maintainability, and also to the successful implementation of this strategic agreement between Saudi Arabian Airlines and GE.”
David Joyce, president and CEO of GE Aviation, commented: “We are very happy to expand the relationship between GE and Saudi Arabian Airlines to encompass the CFM56 product line. This materials agreement will help enable the airline to maintain its fleet with original CFM quality parts and comprehensive support.”
All of Saudi Arabian’s CFM56-5B engines are the Tech Insertion configuration, which is an example of GE’s “ecomagination” product focus - a commitment to develop new, cost-effective technologies that enhance customers’ environmental and operating performance.
This technology provides operators with a 1 per cent improvement in fuel consumption over the life of the product, compared to the base CFM56-5B engine. This lower fuel consumption will also lower CO2, reducing these emissions by 200 tonnes per aircraft per year. Improved analytic design tools have also enabled CFM to further optimise the Tech Insertion combustor so that it will provide 25 per cent lower NOx emissions, the statement said.
GE Aviation, an operating unit of General Electric Company, is a world-leading provider of commercial and military jet engines and components as well as integrated digital, electric power, and mechanical systems for aircraft.