In line with the visit of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, to Paris, flynas, the award winning national carrier and leading low-cost airline in the Middle East, signed an agreement with CFM International to acquire LEAP-1A engines. The signing took place in France on Tuesday in the presence of Chairman of flynas Ayed al-Jeaid, Chief Executive Officer of flynas Bander al-Mohanna and Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Safran/CFM International Philippe Couteaux. Flynas was established by Prince Khaled bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz, The deal is worth USD6.3 billion (SAR 23.6 billion) and includes the acquiring of LEAP-1A engines to power the incoming fleet of 80, A320-neo aircraft ordered by flynas, scheduled to be delivered starting from 2018. The agreement also comprises an associated long-term maintenance and service agreement for the A320 new aircraft fleet with CFM. “It is highly gratifying to come into partnership with CFM in efforts to continue our strategic development,” Jeaid said. “CFM’s proven success and performance over the years, comes as an essential component of our agreement with Airbus to purchase 80 confirmed order and 40 optional of A320-neo aircraft,” he added. “Our ambitious vision for growth and expansion will be supported by this partnership and further enable our plans to push boundaries as the leading low cost carrier in the Middle East and the region.” For his part, Mohanna said, “We have operated exceptionally well with our existing Airbus A320 fleet with CFM56-5B engines, which has allowed us to maintain high performance standards and low cost in operations.” “Equipping our incoming A320neo fleet with LEAP-1A26 engines offers incomparable efficiency and a low cost structure for operating in environments with high temperatures in the region,” Mohanna added, stressing that this partnership not only gives flynas the confidence in continuing to provide the best on-time services to its guests but also enables it to strengthen its offerings domestically and internationally. “It is an honor to extend our partnership with Flynas by providing the LEAP-1A engine,” Couteaux commented. “We look forward to bringing them all the benefits of the advanced LEAP engine to its fleet as part of the airline’s continuous growth in the Middle East,” he said. Fronting the airline industry as a customer-centric airline, which offers a unique travel experience with incomparable value additions, digitized solutions and enriched on-board experience, flynas’ rapid growth was strongly reflected in the airline’s record of carrying over 6.4 million passengers in 2017, a 17 percent Compound Annual Growth Rate increase since 2010.