I never cease to be astonished at the great ingenuity of scientist and engineers around the world! Their accomplishments are something we all should take great pride in. Even though fuel costs have significantly fallen this year, a trend that can’t go on forever, they are designing and delivering new fuel saving jets.
Take the topic of this story. Lufthansa has received the first 180-seat Airbus A320neo, a plane which delivers significantly improved fuel efficiency and reduced emissions. The A320neo promises fuel savings of more than 15% over current designs, due mostly to its new engine, but also from improved aerodynamic plane design. This first aircraft will travel between Hamburg-Frankfurt and Hamburg-Munich.
Pratt & Whitney’s $10 billion design of a revolutionary engine, the GTF, is the power horse behind the new Airbus plane. Besides being the engine used in the A320neo, it is also being used in the new Bombardier CSeries CS100, the Mitsubishi MRJ regional airliner, Embraer’s new E-Jets, and Irkut’s MC-21 jetliner.
Boeing will release a similar more fuel efficient aircraft, the 737 MAX, within the year but powered with a different engine. But both Airbus and Boeing may be facing unexpected competition from Bombardier’s new, “clean-sheet design”, the CS100 and soon the larger CS300, which offer even higher fuel efficiency (around 20%), and lower noise and emissions than what Airbus or Boeing have achieved with their derivative A320 and 737 aircraft. Time will see if airlines are willing to take a chance on Bombardier’s new design.
More on this story from Forbes at this link.
