Qatar Airways has placed a $4 billion jet engine order with CFM International to power its 50 Airbus A321neos, Trend with reference to Reuters reports.
CFM, owned by General Electric GE. and France’s Safran (SAF.PA), will supply LEAP-1A engines for the A321neos ordered by the state-owned carrier.
“We chose the LEAP engine based on its proven efficiency in commercial operations,” Qatar Airways Chief Executive Akbar al-Baker said in a statement on Wednesday.
Qatar Airways ordered United Technologies Corp’s (UTX.N) Pratt & Whitney engines for its initial order of A320neo jets which it upgraded in 2017 to the larger A321 version.
The status of the Pratt & Whitney order was not immediately clear. Qatar Airways did not respond to a request for immediate comment.
Qatar Airways threatened to walk away from the A320neo order in 2016, including cancelling the Pratt & Whitney deal, over performance issues before it eventually swapped it for the larger jets.