This year’s Farnborough International Airshow turned out to be very successful for MTU Aero Engines, Germany’s leading engine manufacturer. MTU reported orders worth around €1.3bn. “This marks an all-time high in MTU’s history. In terms of value, it’s the biggest order volume we’ve ever secured at a trade show,” says MTU CEO Egon Behle. “Notably the new geared turbofan engines continue to be very successful in the marketplace.” The total volume is made up of orders and maintenance agreements for engines in which MTU has a stake. New orders for the geared turbofan (GTF) engine account for the lion’s share of these contracts. The largest order came from Indian airline IndiGo, finalizing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) announced last year, the carrier signed a deal for 300 PurePower PW1100G-JM engines to equip its 150 A320neo jets. Leasing company CIT, the Philippines’ largest airline Cebu Pacific Air, and U.S.-based JetBlue Airways, too, selected this fuel-efficient and clean engine to power the A320neo and A321neo airliners they have on order. Moreover, Norwegian Air Shuttle inked an MoU to purchase this propulsion system. The PW1524G is the geared-turbofan variant for Bombardier’s CSeries. For this engine type, too, an order was received from an undisclosed customer; airBaltic also signed an MoU. The third geared-turbofan variant is the PW1200G, which will power the Japanese Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ). 200 orders for this version were received, the customer being U.S. regional airline SkyWest.
Qantas subsidiary Jetstar and the Asian aircraft leasing companies ICBC and BOC Aviation placed orders for the IAE V2500, the extremely popular engine that powers the current A320 family of aircraft. Mexican budget airline Volaris Services extended an existing V2500 aftermarket agreement. Monarch Services, too, signed a service agreement for its engines. MTU will also benefit from Air Berlin’s order for the Boeing 787: The German airline selected the GEnx engine, in which MTU has a stake, to power its fleet of 15 aircraft of this type.
