Boeing and engine supplier GE Aviation have welcomed Qantas’s purchase of eight 787-9 Dreamliners.
The GEnx-1B engine will power Qantas’s eight 787-9s, the first of which will begin arriving from the 2017/18 financial year. Manufacturer GE Aviation says the GEnx-1B has so far clocked up more than 1.7 million flight hours and 300,000 cycles since entering service.
About 1,600 GEnx-1B engines have been sold to more than 50 customers, GE Aviation said in a statement on Friday.
GE Aviation vice president and general manager of global sales and marketing Chaker Chahrour said the GEnx-1B engine offered 787 operators outstanding performance, fuel burn and reliability.
“Qantas’s selection of the GEnx engine for its newly announced Boeing 787-9 aircraft is another vote of confidence for this engine that is the leading engine choice of 787 Dreamliner operators around the world,” Chahrour said in a statement.
GE Aviation’s GEnx-1B engines also power the 787-8 fleet of Qantas’s low-cost unit Jetstar.
At the Paris Airshow in June, Jetstar signed a multi-year agreement with GE Aviation covering the maintenance, repair and overhaul of the GEnx-1B engines that power the airline’s 11 Dreamliners.
Boeing 787 operators have the choice of two powerplants for the Dreamliner – GE Aviation’s GEnx engine or Rolls-Royce’s Trent 1000 engine.
Boeing Commercial Airplanes senior vice president for Asia Pacific and India Sales Dinesh Keskar congratulated Qantas on its 787-9 order.
“We are honoured that Qantas has selected the 787 for its fleet renewal plan and to build upon on our long-standing relationship,” Keskar said in a statement.
“The Dreamliner is the perfect fit for Qantas’s new long-haul fleet, providing them with superior economics, flexibility and capability.”
Boeing said the order for eight 787-9s, which Qantas has ordered to replace five of its Boeing 747-400s, will be posted on the Boeing order and deliveries website when it is finalised.
