Deliveries have just begun of the first A320s equipped with CFM's improved CFM56-5B/3 incorporating its "Tech Insertion" package. The engine supersedes the CFM56-5B/P. "CFM says it will give 0.5% improvement in fuel burn at delivery and will suffer lower performance deterioration, so after a year in service it will be 1% better than its predecessor," says Airbus director of product marketing for the A320 family, Stuart Mann.
A similar improvement is in the pipeline from IAE dubbed the "V2500Select". The first engine is now being installed on Airbus's A320 development aircraft for testing. "Flight testing will begin in the next month or two, and deliveries will begin in late 2008," says Mann.
Although the main drive of the Select programme is reduced maintenance costs, Mann says that IAE claims the upgrade will offer over a 1% improvement in fuel burn.
"Because the engines are outside our control, we're not going to incorporate the improved fuel burn claims into our performance base until we've seen them in delivered aircraft," says Mann.
Source: Flight International
