Page 7 - AAA MARCH - APRIL 2014 Online Magazine

FEATURE ENGINES

Companies are investing
heavily in technological
innovation to come up
with new products to fend
competition.
to fend competition. The aerospace sector, engines are vying for contracts which narrow-body, single-aisle planes, Pratt &
thereby, is witnessing healthy growth and are reportedly worth a whopping US$20 Whitney has a relatively humble presence
industry consolidation as the individual billion. in commercial aircraft. Pratt & Whitney’s
companies restructure and streamline To meet the specific needs of the forte rather lies in the military contracting
their operations to achieve cost efficiency. regional aviation market, Snecma field.
GE Aviation in 2013 had said about 13 (Safran) offers the SaM146, developed Of the 2,610 Airbus A320neo orders as
% of production in 2014 will be for new in partnership with Russian engine of Jan. 2014, CFM International and Pratt
products, compared with 9 % in 2013 and manufacturer NPO Saturn through the & Whitney have secured about 32% each.
2 % in 2010. The trend shows the growing joint venture, PowerJet. Consequently, the contest seems pretty
importance of the latest plane designs to And that is not all. United Technologies open with either of the player possessing
suppliers. and GE Aviation are involved in the the capability to outwit the other.
Thus big players like Boeing Company design, manufacture and sale of CFM International has booking orders
and Airbus Group are forced to look at aerospace components like landing for 614 CFM56 and LEAP engines to date.
options to replace their aging fleets with gears and actuation systems and provide Overall, CFM has received orders for 352
new fuel-efficient composite material- maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) CFM56 engines (including spares) from
laden aircraft. Both these players services in the global airline market. These several customers, including FlyDubai,
have achieved significant headway in manufacturers contest hard for initial Air Algerie, and GECAS, who ordered
aerodynamics over the years. sales of units, since a large installed base 20 CFM56-7B-powered Boeing Next-
Both Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United of engines ensure continued cash streams Generation 737s, and VietJetAir, who have
Technologies, and CFM International, down the road via parts replacement and selected the CFM56-5B to power 21 Airbus
General Electric’s joint venture with routine maintenance. A320ceo aircraft.
Snecma (SAFRAN) of France, have About 70% of the world’s jetliner Singapore-based Lion Air recently
developed new-generation engines that engines are manufactured either by finalized an order for 60 A320ceo aircraft
reduce at least 15% fuel consumption General Electric or by CFM International. powered by CFM56-5B engines. The
compared with their older counterparts. While CFM International has been company has also logged orders for 262
These premier manufacturers of jet a prominent provider of engines on LEAP engines: Flydubai: finalized its
WWW.ASIANAIRLINES-AIRPORTS.COM MARCH / APRIL 2014 ASIAN AIRLINES & AIRPORTS 7