1200 CFM Engines will be delivered in 2010

CFM, which is jointly owned by General Electric and Snecma, a unit of French aerospace firm Safran, is the sole engine supplier on the best-selling Boeing 737 and also fits engines for Airbus.

The joint venture delivered 1,263 engines in 2009."Deliveries are in line with our forecasts. At this stage of the year, we expect to be able to deliver more than 1,200 CFM engines in 2010," Snecma chief executive Philippe Petitcolin said. "New orders are satisfactory despite the crisis," he added.

Boeing said this month it would increase the production rate on its narrow-body 737 model to 35 planes per month in early 2012. The production rate increase is the second announced for the single-aisle plane this year.

Boeing and its rival Airbus suffered a slump in orders in 2008 and 2009 amid an economic recession. Demand has improved as the economy recovers.

Petitcolin was speaking at a European certification ceremony for the engines which it has helped to develop for Russia's Superjet 100 regional passenger jet built by Sukhoi. Sukhoi has sold about 100 of the twin-engined, 75-95 seat aircraft but Petitcolin said he hoped sales would rise to the equivalent of 400 planes. "We will have done our work properly if we build at least 800 engines on this programme," Petitcolin said.

Deliveries of the Superjet are running about two years behind schedule.

Alexei Fyodorov, head of Russia's government-owned United Aviation Corporation (UAC), last year blamed engine producers for the delay of Russia's first passenger jet project since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Russian officials say the first plane will be delivered by the end of the year, compared with an original target of 2008.

UAC is the owner of Sukhoi -- best known for making fighter jets -- which is developing the Superjet 100 in partnership with shareholder Finmeccanica of Italy.

Snecma and Russia's NPO Saturn are making the Sam146 engines, while France's Thales is involved in avionics. Russian flag carrier Aeroflot is first on the list of buyers.