Engine Marks 300,000 Service Hours

The Engine Alliance celebrated the delivery of its 100th GP7200 engine to Airbus at a ceremony Tuesday at the Goodrich facility in Toulouse, France.  The GP7200 powers the Airbus A380 aircraft, and the 100th engine is destined for Korean Air’s first A380. The airline is expected to take delivery in May 2011.

GP7200 Cutaway Representation

“This one-hundredth delivery is a tribute to the collaborative efforts of our partners and suppliers,” Engine Alliance President Mary Ellen Jones said.  “The GP7200 has just exceeded 300,000 in-service flight hours and our customers are delighted with the engine’s reliability, performance and fuel-efficiency. Suppliers, like Goodrich, who are committed to excellence, help make that happen.” Goodrich is responsible for mating the GP7200 fan case to the propulsor before the engine is mounted on wing.

“The GP7200 engine has been performing very well on the A380,” said Alain Flourens, Airbus Executive Vice President, A380 Program.  “We congratulate the Engine Alliance on its 100th Engine milestone and look forward to many more engine deliveries to come.”

Goodrich employees, Airbus officials, and Engine Alliance customers attended today’s ceremony.

“Goodrich is delighted to be part of the GP7200 success on the Airbus A380,” Goodrich President Charlie Johnston said. “Our success is a testament to the close working relationship between our teams. Goodrich looks forward to continuing to pursue and leverage value-added support and services with key customers such as Engine Alliance.”

There are 19 GP7200-powered A380s in service. EA launch customer Emirates began operating the aircraft in August 2008 and received its fifteenth A380 on November 30.  Emirates is Airbus’ largest A380 customer with orders for 90 of the super-jumbo aircraft. Air France entered service with the GP7200-powered A380 in late 2009 and has four A380s in its fleet and eight more on order.  Other GP7200 customers, in addition to Korean Air, include Etihad Airways, Air Austral and International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC).

The GP7200 is the result of innovations to the combined technologies of its member companies’ most successful wide body engines:  the GE90 and the PW4000. The GP7200 utilizes the lessons learned from more than 25 million flight hours of successful operation with these legacy engines and incorporates new technology to produce the quietest, most fuel efficient engine for the A380.  The GP7200 is certified at 76,500 pounds (340 kN) of thrust, but has the capability to produce more than 81,500 pounds.  Its emissions are well below current and anticipated regulations.

The GP7200 is manufactured at GE and Pratt & Whitney, with GE manufacturing the high pressure compressor, combustor and high pressure turbine. Pratt & Whitney is responsible for the fan module, low pressure compressor and low pressure turbine. Final engine assembly is conducted at Pratt & Whitney's Engine Center in Middletown, Connecticut. GP7200 Engine Program participants include SNECMA (France), Techspace Aero (Belgium) and MTU Aero Engines (Germany).

FMI: www.pw.utc.com, www.ge.com