China Eastern Airlines (MU) has selected CFM International LEAP-1A engines for 101 new Airbus A320neo family aircraft, a mix of A320neo, A321neo and A321XLR models. The agreement, signed on November 6, 2026, at the 9th China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai, also covers spare engines and a long-term services agreement.

CFM International announced the selection in a press release dated November 6, 2026. The release is the engine maker’s own account of an agreement first reported in AirPro News coverage of GE Aerospace’s record signings at the expo, and it adds the aircraft models involved, the size of China Eastern’s existing CFM-powered fleet and the history of the relationship. CFM did not disclose the value of the agreement, the number of engines it covers or a delivery schedule.

What the airline and the engine maker said

Xiaoqun He, executive vice president at China Eastern Airlines, said: “CFM LEAP engines are helping us build one of the most modern fleets in the industry.” He said the airline was pleased to strengthen the relationship, and that an airline’s success depends on engine reliability, fuel efficiency, and support and services, which in his view makes CFM a natural partner.

Weiming Xiang, president of CFM Greater China, said the agreement extends a relationship of more than four decades. He said CFM is committed to “the highest standards of reliability, efficiency, and utilization.”

A fleet already built on CFM engines

The new order adds to a fleet that already runs on CFM engines across several aircraft families. According to CFM, China Eastern operates 215 A320neo and A321neo aircraft with LEAP-1A engines, Boeing 737 MAX aircraft with LEAP-1B engines and COMAC C919 aircraft with LEAP-1C engines. The airline also operates more than 380 aircraft with CFM56 engines, including Airbus A320ceo and Boeing 737NG models.

The company profile in the release describes China Eastern, headquartered in Shanghai, as one of three major state-owned Chinese airlines, operating more than 820 aircraft in what it calls one of the youngest fleets in the world. As a SkyTeam member, the airline serves nearly 1,000 destinations in more than 100 countries and regions and carries more than 150 million passengers a year, according to the same profile. The AirPro Atlas lists the SkyTeam carrier with five hubs.

Four decades of CFM engines at China Eastern

China Eastern was CFM’s first customer in mainland China. The relationship dates to 1985, when China Eastern Yunnan took delivery of its first Boeing 737-300, powered by CFM56-3C engines, according to CFM.

GE Aerospace gave figures for the wider GE and CFM engine base in China at the previous edition of the expo. In a release dated November 6, 2025, from the 8th CIIE, it said that it and CFM served more than 60 Chinese airline customers, with more than 7,800 engines in service and nearly 5,000 on order. At that expo, China Eastern signed a purchase agreement for 39 spare engines covering the LEAP-1A, LEAP-1C and CFM56-7B, according to the same release, which describes the LEAP-1C as the only designated foreign engine for the COMAC C919 fleet.

CFM International is a 50/50 joint venture between GE Aerospace and Safran Aircraft Engines, founded in 1974. It describes itself as the world’s leading commercial aircraft engine supplier. Beyond producing the LEAP family, it supports the LEAP and CFM56 fleets in service, and its RISE program develops new propulsion technologies.

Where the LEAP program stands

The agreement comes ten years after the LEAP entered service. CFM said it has delivered more than 10,000 LEAP engines, which have accumulated more than 100 million flight hours.

CFM is upgrading the LEAP fleet with a high-pressure turbine (HPT) durability kit intended to extend time on wing, and a reverse bleed system (RBS) intended to reduce the maintenance burden on airlines. The company said its aims are high engine availability, strong maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) performance, a competitive cost of ownership and aftermarket competition through an open MRO ecosystem. In Greater China, GE Aerospace said in its 2025 release that a network of eight partner or licensed MRO shops, two engine component storefronts and one on-site quick-turn shop covered all GE and CFM engine models used in China. Its Shanghai Lingang quick-turn shop and SSAMC, a joint venture with Air China, both offered domestic LEAP-1C quick-turn capability, and AirPro News has covered SSAMC’s LEAP maintenance work in China.

This article summarizes reporting by Reuters.

GE Aerospace signed sales and service agreements in China worth more than $12.9 billion at the China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai, Reuters reported on November 6, 2026. Among them is a China Eastern Airlines agreement for 202 LEAP-1A engines to power the 101 Airbus A320neo-family aircraft the carrier has newly ordered.

Reuters described the total as a record signing value for GE Aerospace at the annual expo, which opened its ninth edition in Shanghai on November 5, 2026. The figure stands against the nearly $2.1 billion in agreements GE Aerospace reported from the 2025 edition of the same show, according to the company’s own release from that event. Reuters reported that China Eastern had made no immediate announcement about the agreements.

What GE Aerospace signed in Shanghai

Citing a GE Aerospace statement, Reuters reported that the China Eastern engine agreement also covers spare engines and long-term service support. The engines are for the airline’s order for 101 A320neo-family jets. Reuters did not report a value for the individual agreements or a split between engine sales and services.

A second agreement with China Eastern covers 14 spare engines across three types: the LEAP-1A, the LEAP-1C and the CFM56-7B. The LEAP-1C powers the COMAC C919, and GE Aerospace describes it as the sole designated foreign engine for the C919 fleet.

GE Aerospace also said it reached supply and repair agreements with MTU Maintenance Zhuhai during the expo, according to Reuters, which described the shop as a joint venture between China Southern Air Holding Company Limited and Germany’s MTU Aero Engines. MTU describes MTU Maintenance Zhuhai as a 50/50 joint venture between MTU Aero Engines and China Southern Airlines.

How the 2026 signings compare with the 2025 expo

At the eighth CIIE in November 2025, GE Aerospace said it signed sales and service agreements with several airline customers and partners worth nearly $2.1 billion in total. Xiang Weiming, GE Aerospace global vice president and president of Greater China, said at the time that it was the company’s eighth consecutive year at the expo.

Both counterparts named in the 2026 reporting also signed with GE Aerospace in 2025. China Eastern signed a purchase agreement for 39 spare LEAP-1A, LEAP-1C and CFM56-7B engines, and MTU Maintenance Zhuhai signed a CFM and GE Aerospace aviation materials purchase agreement and an engine component repair agreement. Xiamen Airlines signed a CFM56-7B TrueChoice shop visit agreement at the same event.

The LEAP fleet and its support network in China

The LEAP-1A is built by CFM International, a 50/50 joint venture between GE Aerospace and Safran Aircraft Engines, and powers the Airbus A320neo family. In its 2025 expo release, GE Aerospace said that it and CFM had served more than 60 Chinese airline customers, with more than 7,800 engines in service and nearly 5,000 on order.

CFM said in July 2026 that more than 10,000 LEAP engines had been delivered. It is upgrading the LEAP fleet with a high-pressure turbine (HPT) durability kit to extend time on wing and a reverse bleed system (RBS) to lower airline maintenance burden. That update came in a release on China Aircraft Leasing Group Holdings Limited (CALC) selecting LEAP-1A engines for 20 additional A320neo and A321neo aircraft.

On the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) side, GE Aerospace said in 2025 that its network in Greater China of eight cooperative or licensed MRO shops, two engine component storefronts and one on-site quick-turn shop covered all GE and CFM engine models used in China. Its Shanghai Lingang quick-turn shop and SSAMC, a joint venture with Air China, both had domestic LEAP-1C quick-turn capability, and AirPro News has covered SSAMC’s LEAP maintenance work in China.

MTU says its Zhuhai shop, in the Zhuhai Free Trade Zone, maintains LEAP-1A and LEAP-1B engines alongside the CFM56-5B/-7B, IAE V2500-A5 and Pratt & Whitney PW1100G-JM, and can perform up to 450 shop visits a year. A second site in Jinwan, in operation since March 2025, focuses on the PW1100G-JM.

GE Aerospace’s commercial business heading into the expo

The China agreements follow GE Aerospace’s third-quarter 2026 results, published October 20, 2026, in which total orders rose 49% to $19.0 billion. Orders in the Commercial Engines & Services segment reached $15.3 billion, up 58%, and LEAP deliveries rose 5%.

Internal shop visit revenue rose 12% in the quarter, including more than 40% growth for LEAP, and the company cited a commercial services backlog of more than $170 billion.

Bell Textron Inc. has delivered the 2,000th Bell 407 to White Saddle Air Services, a family-owned and operated helicopter company based at Bluff Lake, near Tatla Lake, in the Cariboo Chilcotin region of British Columbia. The handover comes nearly three decades after the light single-engine helicopter entered service in the 1990s.

Bell, a Textron Inc. company headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, announced the delivery in a press release dated November 5, 2026. The company said the platform has supported operators worldwide across commercial, utility, corporate and other mission types, and credited the team at its commercial center of excellence in Mirabel, Quebec, which supports production and delivery of the type.

A light single that has kept evolving

Danny Maldonado, president and CEO of Bell, called the delivery of the 2000th Bell 407 “a tremendous milestone for Bell.” He said it reflects the work of the teams who engineer and build the helicopter and of the customers who fly it.

Bell describes the 407 as a versatile, multi-mission light single-engine helicopter valued for performance, reliability, cabin comfort, visibility and operational flexibility. Its customers include public safety, emergency medical services, utility, corporate transport and specialized mission operators in North America and around the world.

The design has moved through several versions, from the 407GX to the 407GXP and then the 407GXi, which Bell introduced in 2018. The 407GXi carries the Garmin G1000H NXi integrated all-glass flight deck, which Bell says improves situational awareness and navigation and reduces pilot workload.

What the 407GXi offers operators

According to Bell’s January 2025 specification sheet, the 407GXi carries seven occupants in total, with five passengers in club seating in the cabin. It is powered by a Rolls-Royce M250-C47E/4 turboshaft with dual digital full authority digital engine control (FADEC), rated at 674 shaft horsepower for five minutes at takeoff and 630 shaft horsepower maximum continuous.

Bell lists a maximum cruise speed of 136 knots true airspeed at sea level, a range of 350 nautical miles on standard fuel with no reserve, and a loiter endurance of 4.2 hours, each at a weight of 4,000 lb in standard conditions. Maximum internal gross weight is 5,000 lb, or 5,250 lb with an optional kit, and 6,000 lb with an external load. Useful load for the base aircraft is 2,300 lb.

Demand from air medical operators

Bell says the 407GXi is used for helicopter air ambulance services worldwide. On October 28, 2026, at the Air Medical Transport Conference (AMTC 2026) in Fort Worth, Bell announced that Global Medical Response (GMR) had placed a purchase order for additional Bell 407GXis for its helicopter air ambulance fleet, a deal AirPro News covered as the latest Global Medical Response order. Textron’s release described GMR as operating the largest Bell helicopter air ambulance fleet, with more than 170 Bell aircraft.

Ted Van Horne, GMR President and Chief Operating Officer, said the 407GXi’s reliability, modern avionics and instrument flight rules (IFR) capability improve safety, mission reliability and patient access in forecasted or unforeseen weather. South Texas nonprofit HALO-Flight also ordered an additional 407GXi at the same conference, growing its IFR-capable fleet to seven.

Where the 407 sits in Bell’s commercial business

Textron’s third-quarter results, published October 29, 2026, show that Bell delivered 29 commercial helicopters in the quarter, compared with 30 in the third quarter of 2025. The release does not break that figure down by model.

Bell’s segment revenue fell 9% to $933 million in the quarter, from $1,026 million a year earlier, and segment profit was $76 million. Textron attributed $59 million of the revenue decline to lower military volume, mainly on the MV-75 program, and $34 million to lower volume and mix in commercial helicopters, parts and services. Bell’s backlog stood at $7.6 billion at the end of the quarter.

Bell said the 407 will continue to evolve and serve customers for years to come. The company did not disclose the configuration of the 2,000th aircraft or the missions White Saddle Air Services will fly with it.