Aircraft

Airbus to test-fly P&W geared turbofan on A340 this year

By David Kaminski-Morrow

Airbus is to perform test flights of the Pratt & Whitney geared turbofan engine later this year with the powerplant fitted to an A340 aircraft.

The airframer will fit a demonstrator version of the engine to the jet and perform a series of flights in the fourth quarter.

Pratt & Whitney’s geared turbofan is designed to allow the low-pressure section of the engine to rotate at a different frequency to that of the fan, enabling both components to operate at their most efficient speeds.

“The geared turbofan engine is one option Airbus is testing,” says the airframer, despite its Americas chief’s recently appearing dismissive of the longer-term prospects for the powerplant on its aircraft.

Airbus says: “The results will contribute to Airbus’ overall assessment of the different new engine technologies proposed by the engine manufacturers and the benefits they could bring for the future.”

But the manufacturer states that the tests are purely exploratory and “do not imply” that it has made any technological or business decisions on future product development.

Bombardier has already selected the geared turbofan for its CSeries aircraft and the engine has also been chosen to power the Mitsubishi Regional Jet.

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