Austrian, CFM Celebrate 1 Million CFM56-5B Flight Hour Milestone

VIENNA, Austria — 6 May 2010 — At a special ceremony here today, Austrian Airlines and CFM International celebrated the achievement of 1 million flight hours by the airlines fleet of CFM56-5B-powered Airbus A320 family fleet and the 15th anniversary of their relationship.

Austrian Airlines has been a CFM customer since early 1995, when the first CFM-powered long-range, four-engine A340 and twin-engine A321 were introduced into the airlines fleet. Today, the airline operates a total of about 30 CFM-powered aircraft, including the CFM56-5B-powered Airbus A319, A320, and A321, as well as the CFM56-7B-powered Boeing 737-600, 737-700, and 737-800 aircraft.

"We are honored to be sharing this very important milestone with Austrian Airlines," said Eric Bachelet, president and CEO of CFM International. "It is highly gratifying when an airline of this stature puts its trust in your products. We have developed a strong relationship over the past 15 years, and we look forward to the future with great anticipation. The entire CFM Team sends its warmest congratulations to everyone at Austrian."

Austrian Airlines, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2008, and its partners, Lauda Air and Austrian Arrows, carried nearly 10 million passengers to 120 destinations around the globe in 2009. In September of that year, the airline became a part of the Lufthansa Group, effectively making Lufthansa the largest airline in Europe.

CFM56 engines are a product of CFM International, a 50/50 joint company of Snecma (Safran Group) and General Electric Company. CFM is the world’s leading manufacturing of commercial aircraft engines and has produced nearly 21,000 engines to date.