Two decades ago, five of the finest aero engine companies in the world signed a collaboration agreement jointly to develop the IAE V2500 engine: an advanced, quiet and modern turbofan engine for the fast-growing 150-seat, single-aisle, market.
Yesterday at Le Bourget, IAE and its four shareholders - Pratt & Whitney, Rolls-Royce, the Japanese Aero Engines Corporation and Germany's MTU Aero Engines - commemorated the event in IAE's chalet.
With more than 80 customer airlines worldwide, IAE V2500 engines power nearly 900 aircraft and the worldwide fleet has accumulated more than 24 million flying hours.
Over the past 20 years, IAE's customers have ordered engines worth more than $25 billion and there are more than 2,600 engines on backlog.
Vision
Speaking at the celebration, Steve Heath, IAE's president and chief executive, said: "The quiet success of IAE and the V2500 is based on a 20 years' young vision our founding partners created in the 1980s.
"The continuous commitment of our shareholders, our ongoing passion for international collaboration and VISTA, our long-term process and product improvement initiative, will ensure the future success of both IAE and our partners."
The modern IAE V2500 has become the engine of choice for the Airbus A320 family of aircraft.
Over the past five years, IAE's average share of the single-aisle A320 market grew to 55% and 25 new customers selected the V2500.
Meeting all Stage 4 noise regulations, the V2500 is rated from 22,000-33,000lb thrust (98-147kN) to power the A319, A320, A321 and A319 Corporate Jet aircraft and it's the quietest engine available in the 150-seater market.
Source: Flight Daily News
