Engines
Technology
General Electric GE90 Engine
Large Jet Engines: Power With Fuel Efficiency
NASA indicates that with advanced aerodynamics, structures and geared turbofans, fuel savings of up to 50 per cent by 2025, is possible and up to 60 per cent by 2030
PHOTOGRAPH: GE Aviation
by Anil Chopra
T
he turbofan engine market is dominated by a handful of mostly Western players. These are General Electric, Rolls-Royce, Pratt and Whitney, in order of market share. General Electric and Safran of France have a joint venture, CFM International. Pratt & Whitney also has a joint venture known as International Aero Engines with Japanese Aeroengine Corporation and MTU Aero Engines of Germany. Pratt & Whitney and General Electric have
a joint venture, Engine Alliance. There are others such as Honeywell Aerospace and some Russian, Ukrainian and Chinese engine companies. Engine fuel efficiency has a direct impact on total fuel consumption and in turn, on the cost of airline operations. As per the International Air Transport Association (IATA) fuel fact sheet, the global airline industry’s fuel bill estimated to have totalled $188 billion in 2019, accounted for around 23.7 per cent of operSP’S AIRBUZ • Issue 1 • 2021
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