GP7200 MRO Launched by Air France Industries

Late in October, Air France Industries announced that it had reached an agreement with the Engine Alliance-the General Electric/Pratt & Whitney joint venture developing the GP7200 engine for the Airbus A380-to become part of its maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) network. The subsidiary of the French flag-carrier will add the GP7200 to the range of engines it already services. In addition to the 10 Airbus 555-seaters Air France will receive from 2007, it will support other aircraft from other airlines upon demand from the Engine Alliance.

"We will integrate the GP7200 into our current repair capabilities," Martine Selezneff, senior vice-president, engines overhaul, told Aviation Maintenance. For example, disassembling the turbofan engine into modules and re-assembling them will take place at Air France's Paris Charles-de-Gaulle facility. Modules will be overhauled at Paris Orly airport, whereas some parts will be repaired at Elancourt, again in the Paris outksirts. Therefore, no dedicated facility will be built for the new engine. However, Selezneff acknowledged that the existing facilities may see their layout modified and their surface extended.

In terms of working procedures, Selezneff does not anticipate the new engine to be a revolution, but rather an evolution. GP7200 repair operations will benefit from the methods that are now well in place for the GE90 that powers the Boeing 777, she said. The main change will be to work with the engine makers instead of competing with them for services. "We will learn integrated network membership," Selezneff said.

Air France people will begin their training in 2006 at the engine makers' facilities. The company has no plan to hire additional workers specifically for the GP7200 but the increase in activity it will induce may imply an increase in staff, Selezneff said.

The first full overhaul should not occur before 2009 or 2010, but some Air France Industries employees will be busy with the GP7200 right from entry into service in 2006. A so-called hospital shop will be set up "to solve possible teething problems," Selezneff said.

The GP7200 engine is currently under development with engine certification pegged for the third quarter of 2005. First flight on the A380 is set for November 2005, with entry into service in October 2006. According to the Engine Alliance, the GP7200 engine has been selected for 67 of the 110 A380 aircraft ordered with the engines specified. -- By Thierry Dubois