AirAsia, the region's top budget carrier, has selected engines made by CFM International to power the 60 Airbus A320 aircraft it has ordered, said a media report.

The deal for the CFM56-586/P engines, each of which has a catalogue price of RM36 million, would be signed at the Paris Air Show next month, the Business Times newspaper repoeted over the weekend.

But the head of AirAsia declined comment on the report.

"No comment. We will make an announcement (at the) end of the month," chief executive officer Tony Fernandes told AFP .

CFM International was formed in 1971 by General Electric of the United States and the French state-owned aerospace group Snecma.

Other low cost carriers that have chosen CFM engines include Irish low-cost airline Ryanair.

AirAsia is the single largest buyer of the A320 in the Asia Pacific region.

The budget airline has ordered the 60 Airbus A320s with an option for another 40 aircraft which will completely replace its current fleet of 28 single-aisle, 148-seat Boeing 737-300s.

Delivery of the first A320 will begin late this year and continue through until 2011, the company said.

Launched as a budget carrier in December 2001 with just two aircraft, AirAsia has defied the sceptics to become a significant regional player, with its business model now imitated by startled national carriers along with a host of new low-cost entrants.