Evidence of the warm reception that Airbus A320 customers are giving the Pratt & Whitney’s Geared TurboFan engine mounted still further today, as Lufthansa announced its decision to choose the PurePower PW1100G for 30 A320neos. The agreement between Lufthansa and Pratt & Whitney calls for deliveries of 60 PW1100G engines to start in 2016. The Lufthansa supervisory board approved the neo order on March 16.
“We are very pleased with the improved fuel efficiency, noise reduction and environmental benefits of the A320neo family aircraft with the PurePower PW1100G engine,” said Nico Buchholz, executive vice president of fleet management for Lufthansa Group. “We have spent a lot of time with Pratt & Whitney to thoroughly understand the Geared TurboFan architecture, and we are convinced that the engine will deliver significant benefits.”
The announcement comes only four days after Pratt & Whitney landed one of the largest engine orders “in recent aviation history,” when Indian low-fare carrier IndiGo chose the PurePower PW1100G to power its proposed fleet of 150 A320neos.