At last year’s Farnborough Airshow, Eithad Airways announced a record buy of 100 Boeing and Airbus aircraft, with options for a further 105 aircraft. At this year’s Paris Airshow, the Abu Dhabi-based airline is following up with a record buy of engines to power most of those aircraft. The carrier just announced an order for 239 engines worth $7 billion. Its 35 787s will be powered by 78 GE GEnx engines, its 10 A380s by 25 Engine Alliance GP7200s, and its 20 A320s by 44 International Aero Engines (IAE) V2500 SelectOne engines. Etihad is launch customer in the Gulf region for the SelectOne, a new variant of the V2500, which provides one percent better fuel burn and reduced CO2 emissions. The Mideast airline had already selected engines for its remaining order: 50 Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines to power 25 Airbus A350s and 22 GE90s to power its 20 new 777-300ERs. Should Etihad exercise all order options, it will have purchased 469 engines worth $14 billion.
Etihad CEO James Hogan showed no deep concern over the current economic downturn, in part because the United Arab Emirates still is witnessing growth and because aircraft deliveries will be made largely from 2012 to 2020, allowing plenty of time for anticipated economic recovery. “We believe the time for Etihad will be good," he said. With so many of the large V2500s now in the Gulf region, Engine Alliance, a joint venture of GE Aviation and Pratt & Whitney, now recognizes it will have to establish a support capability there, according to the company’s president, Jim Moravacek. “The engines won’t be delivered until 2012 and won’t need overhaul earlier than 2015,” he said at the Paris exposition. “But we’ll have to make an arrangement for regional support within two or three years.”
For related news