GE Aviation has secured European certification for the Passport 20 engine that powers Bombardier's Global 7500 business jet.
The 18 December approval comes more than two and a half years after the 16,500lb-thurst (73kN) Passport powerplant secured US validation and just two days before the ultra-long-range flagship enters service.
The milestone will be marked at a dedicated ceremony at Bombardier's Global completion facility in Montreal.
Launched in 2010, the Passport is GE's first integrated propulsion system created specifically for large-cabin business jets.
Bombardier
It has been selected for only for two platforms to date, with Bombardier's in-development Global 8000 – a shorter, but slightly longer-range variant of the 7500 – the other application.
The Passport features innovations including a 1.32m (52in)-diameter titanium fan blisk – the first application of the technology on an engine of this size – and a core scaled down from the Leap airliner engines produced by its CFM International 50/50 joint venture with Snecma.
The Global 7500 secured US type certification in November following a two-year flight-test campaign in which five aircraft logged over 2,700h.
European validation is expected in 2019, although Bombardier has not disclosed a precise timeframe.
The company has an order backlog of over 100 of the 7,900nm (14,600km)-range aircraft, and plans to deliver between 15 and 20 examples next year.
Source: Flight International
