Using Zend Framework components in CI

[eluser]fredwu[/eluser]
[quote author="mihailt" date="1229107610"]the main improvement is usage of Zend_Loader class over direct require_once call.[/quote]

From the Zend Framework user guide:

Zend_Loader vs. require_once()

The Zend_Loader methods are best used if the filename you need to load is variable. For example, if it is based on a parameter from user input or method argument. If you are loading a file or a class whose name is constant, there is no benefit to using Zend_Loader over using traditional PHP functions such as require_once().

I think it really depends on the usage to justify it as an 'improvement'.