3 December 2019: Exactly three years after the 1st delivery of GTF%u2122 engine, Pratt & Whitney celebrated its 100th delivery to Airbus for powering of A220 aircraft.
"We are honored to celebrate the 100th GTF-powered A220 aircraft on the three-year anniversary of our first delivery," said Martin Gauss, CEO of airBaltic. "Our customers love the quietness of the environmentally-friendly engines and we love that the GTF brings a level of efficiency and fuel savings that is unparalleled in the marketplace."
Ever since GTF entered service, it has powered A220 aircraft on four continents and accumulated about 600,000 engine revenue hours. Initially called the C - series, the A220 - 100 aircraft was delivered to airBaltic in June 2016. In November 2016, airBaltic became the launch operator for A220-300 aircraft. Since then they have re-ordered A220-300 aircraft twice, totalling the firm order to 50 aircraft.
"Congratulations to Airbus, airBaltic and to the entire A220 program on this exciting milestone," said Jessica Villardi, executive director, Regional Jet GTF Programs at Pratt & Whitney. "GTF customers are flying further with less fuel and opening new markets, which benefits global commercial air travel. We are proud to support our A220 customers and look forward to the fleet continuing to grow."
As compared to the current generation aircraft, the A220, exclusively powered by GTF engine offers double-digit improvement in operating costs. Not just that, it is 20% more fuel efficient, provides a 75% reduction in noise footprint and NOx emissions and 50% below the ICAO CAEP 6 regulation.