Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES
Airbus is holding the first in a series of meetings with its engine suppliers to outline concepts for potential development of its 100- to 800- plus- seater aircraft.
The meetings are broadly aimed at evaluating future concepts from 2010 onwards to coincide with the period following entry-into-service of the A380. However, in some cases the talks are also thought to be reviewing options for nearer-term plans - particularly what to do in the wake of the decision to shelve the A330-500 as a replacement for the A310 and A300.
The meetings will also review proposals for longer-term plans beyond 2015 and 2025.
Although Airbus has held similar meetings in the past on an ad-hoc basis, the latest series represents the first in a planned set of more structured gatherings with its key suppliers. The initiative, which resembles the approach adopted by Boeing, is thought to be the result of more direct influence by majority shareholder EADS, and in particular, by the management team of Legardère, the parent company of the original Aerospatiale-Matra group that merged with DaimlerChrysler and CASA to form EADS in 2000.
General Electric, Pratt & Whitney, Rolls-Royce and their respective sister companies CFM International, International Aero Engines and the GE/P&W Engine Alliance, are all expected to attend the meetings, which are spaced out around the roll-out of the A340-600 at Toulouse on 23 March.
One US engine maker says Airbus "wants to hear what we have to offer, and we want to know what they're looking at". According to industry sources, the talks will also embrace a range of unconventional designs such as blended wing body concepts for high-capacity, long-range transports.
The meetings will revolve around each manufacturer's reviews of major market drivers such as environmental and infrastructure, product ranges and advanced concepts.
GE, in concert with CFMI, is expected to brief Airbus on its newly revealed future architecture plan to develop a family of two-shaft, single-stage high-pressure (HP) turbine designs combining the simplicity and low parts count of the narrowbody engines with the higher overall pressure ratio of the GE90 (Flight International, 13-19 March).
The two companies are also expected to offer various options containing discrete elements of the CFMI Tech56 technology programme for the CFM56 and the work under way with NASA on the Ultra Efficient Engine Technology (UEET) programme.
P&W, the first to be involved in the meetings this month, is thought to have made a strong push for a range of options based on the low-parts number architecture of the PW6000, now under test for its upcoming first flight on the A318, as well as future geared fan derivatives.
Although the PW8000 geared fan plan has more recently been redirected towards the higher thrust needs of the A340-500/600, variations on this theme were again presented covering lower and higher thrust requirements.
R-R is believed to be preparing presentations around the Trent family, and technology studies from the ANTLE programme - a pan-European effort involving Snecma, Fiat, ITP of Spain, MTU, R-R and Volvo.
ANTLE is a low noise and emission technology demonstrator due to run in 2008. The effort is a broad-ranging advanced engine technology study with applications for future airliners. R-R is also looking at improving its existing family of Trent engines with counter rotating compressors and turbines to reduce vanes and stators and cut weight.
Source: Flight International
