It was large drinks all round at the International Aero Engines stand in Hall 4 to celebrate the delivery to Lufthansa of the 1,000th V2500 engine. Barry Eccleston, IAE president and chief executive officer, was joined by representatives of the companies that make up IAE and Jan Peter Jansen of Lufthansa, who received a commemorative sculpture.
The first V2500 rolled of the production line 14 years ago. "If anyone said that things got easier as time went by - then I missed that happening. I'm delighted that we've now sold 1,000 of the V2500, but I can promise you every sale is still a tough one," says Eccleston.
"We've achieved a market share of 61% on the Airbus production line, which we're very proud of and we've now got 70 customers worldwide. I'm convinced that we can increase that.
"I know we face a changing and challenging future. But I'm convinced it will be a profitable one. My aim is 4,000 engines sold to 200 customers."
Accepting the award, Jansen said Lufthansa has found the V2500 performs superbly in operation and hinted strongly that there would be more orders. "I'm sure the sales of the next 1,000 V2500s will happen a lot quicker than the first," he says.
Source: Flight Daily News
