In a deal announced at Asian Aerospace yesterday, Air India has ordered General Electric engines valued at more than $2.2 billion to power its new Boeing 777 and 787 fleets. The agreement was signed at Asian Aerospace by Sulekha Shrivastava, South-East Asia regional manager for Air India and David Joyce, vice-president of GE Aviation’s commercial engine operation.The airline has ordered eight 777-200LRs and 15 777-300ERs, all powered by the GE90-115B. In addition, Air India ordered 27 787-8s powered by the GEnx. The GEnx is the best-selling engine on the 787. Delivery of the 777s is scheduled to begin in 2007, with the 787 deliveries due to start in 2008.
The GE90-115B is certificated at an unprecedented 115,000lb thrust (512kN) as the powerplant for the 777-300ER, 777-200LR and the forthcoming 777 freighter. More than 225 GE90s were ordered in 2005 - the best sales year ever for the engine.
The GEnx is based on the architecture of the highly successful GE90 and it is designed to succeed the CF6 engine family, providing significantly better fuel burn and payload performance than the CF6.
It is the world's only jet engine with a front fan case and fan blades made of composites, providing greater durability, weight reduction and lower operating costs. The fan blades will use GE90 composite technology that has created no in-service issues for almost a decade.
The GEnx will have 18 fan blades (50% less than the CF6) at noise levels lower than any large GE commercial engine now in service. The GEnx also features a new combustor for efficient fuel mixing before ignition, resulting in significantly lower NOx levels.
Testing on the GEnx engine is scheduled to start soon, with engine certification planned for the third quarter of 2007 and service entry on the 787 scheduled for 2008.
Source: Flight International
