Geoff Thomas
International Aero Engines (IAE) announced yesterday at Le Bourget that it had new, firm orders worth $600 million for its V2500 family of engines.
The orders are from three international leasing companies which will use the engines to power aircraft from Airbus Industrie's A320 family.
The three orders, all firm, are from Boullioun Aviation Services of Seattle (15 A320s); the CIT Group of New York (15 A320s); and Debis AirFinance of Amsterdam (a mix of 20 A319s, A320s and A321s).
Important
Commenting on the new business, IAE president and CEO Mike Terrett says: "All orders are important but I'm particularly pleased to announce these three from international leasing companies as they represent the best barometer of the vibrant single-aisle marketplace.
"It also confirms us as builders of the 'engine of choice' for the Airbus A320 family as we now command a 68% market share of firm orders on these aircraft."
Deliveries of the Boullioun A320 fleet begin in February 2002 and continue through to November 2006 while deliveries to Debis AirFinance will start in 2002. Deliveries of the A320s for CIT will begin in the fourth quarter of 2000.
Now entering its 10th year of service, the V2500 family of engines has already clocked-up more than 10 million hours of revenue-earning service, half of them since the last Paris air show two years ago.
Staggering
And the figure is increasing at a staggering 100,000h a month, with the lead engine having spent around 20,000h 'on-wing'.
Commenting on this, Terrett says: "These achievements are due to the V2500 and the Airbus A320 being of the same modern technology generation and they complement each other perfectly.
"Based on this outstanding combination, we look forward to providing V2500 power for many more years and many more hours."
In its first decade of operation, the V2500 has won total orders for 3,000 engines worth more than $18 billion for IAE.
Source: Flight Daily News
