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Pratt & Whitney Geared Turbofan Engine to Power All Nippon Airways' Mitsubishi Regional Jets
EAST HARTFORD, CT -- Pratt & Whitney's Geared Turbofan engine will power All Nippon Airways' Mitsubishi Regional Jets (MRJ) marking the launch of the MRJ program and the first orders for Pratt & Whitney's next-generation engine. All Nippon Airways has purchased 15 firm and 10 option Mitsubishi Regional Jets with deliveries scheduled to begin in 2013. Financial terms were not disclosed. Pratt & Whitney is a division of United Technologies Corp.
"We are excited about this first order and it underscores what we've been hearing from our customers around the world -- the Geared Turbofan engine brings the game-changing improvements in fuel burn, engine noise, environmental emissions and operating costs that airlines are demanding," says Todd Kallman, president, Pratt & Whitney Commercial Engines. "Customer reaction has been extremely positive. We currently have several proposals out with various airlines and we are confident that there will be additional orders throughout this year."
Since receiving authorization to offer the MRJ in October 2007, Pratt & Whitney and MHI have visited more than 100 customers to discuss the benefits of this next-generation aircraft and the Geared Turbofan engine.
"We are proud to power All Nippon Airways' new aircraft and excited to continue working with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to bring this next-generation aircraft to customers around the world," says Kallman.
Pratt & Whitney's Geared Turbofan engine is the exclusive power for the new Mitsubishi Regional Jet. The engine will deliver double-digit reductions in fuel burn, engine noise, environmental emissions and operating costs. The engine has also been selected to power the proposed Bombardier CSeries. Both aircraft are scheduled to enter service in 2013.
The Geared Turbofan engine builds on more than 20 years of development experience and more than US$1 billion in technology investment. A full scale Geared Turbofan demonstrator engine has accumulated approximately 130 hours of ground testing and is preparing for flight testing later this year. This is in addition to the thousands of hours being accumulated on Pratt & Whitney's 15 technology rigs around the world, including the Fan Drive Gear System rig, which has simulated more than 40,000 flights on the Geared Turbofan's fan drive gear system.
Pratt & Whitney has over 17,000 aircraft engines installed with hundreds of airlines around the world. Additionally, Pratt & Whitney is a leading partner in two joint venture companies that manufacture commercial aircraft engines: International Aero Engines, which makes the V2500 for the Airbus A320 family of aircraft, and the Engine Alliance, whose GP7200 engine is FAR 33 certified for the new Airbus A380.
