Powering the Airbus

At the Paris Airshow, Qatar Airways and Air China disclosed that they have selected International Aero Engines's V2500 engines to power their new fleet of Airbus A320-family aircraft.

The Qatar Airways order covers engines for 20 A320s and four A321s. At present, Qatar uses the V2500 on a fleet of 21 Airbus A320 aircraft. The Air China order covers engines for 22 aircraft, a mix of A320s and A321s. Like Qatar, Air China also already uses the V2500, in this case, on its fleet of 12 Airbus A319s.

International Aero Engines has also announced that it has delivered Shenzhen Airlines’ first V2500-powered aircraft. The delivery, held at the Airbus Final Assembly Line, Toulouse, represented the first of 28 A320-family aircraft ordered by Shenzhen in an $812m (£494m) deal announced last year at the Farnborough International Airshow.

The V2500 engine itself is available in seven different thrust settings, from 22,000-33,000lbs to power the Airbus A319, A320 and A321 family of aircraft as well as the A319 corporate jet. There are more than 5,500 V2500s in service or on firm order, with more than 180 customers around the world.

International Aero Engines itself is a multinational aero-engine consortium whose shareholders are Pratt & Whitney, Rolls-Royce, the Japanese Aero Engines Corporation and MTU Aero Engines.