Pratt & Whitney, has delivered the first Airbus A321 passenger to freighter conversion aircraft powered by the V2500 engine to Qantas Freight.
The delivery with stakeholders Elbe Flugzeugwerke (EFW), ST Engineering Aerospace, Airbus, Vallair, Qantas Freight and Australian Post, was supplied to Qantas through lessor Vallair.
“The delivery today is an exciting milestone for the cargo industry and we are proud to power this first Airbus A321P2F aircraft,” said Bernie Zimmerman, president, IAE International Aero Engines AG. “The V2500 engine delivers lower noise and a fuel advantage to customers of about 3%, resulting in significant cost savings, lower emissions and a payload-range benefit which makes it a great fit for cargo operations. We look forward to supporting Qantas and future A321P2F deliveries for many years to come.”
V2500 engines power approximately 3,000 aircraft with nearly 200 operators in over 80 countries. More than 7,800 V2500 engines have been produced since its entry into service in 1989. In total, the V2500 has powered more than 60 million flights and accumulated more than 240 million engine flight hours.
The highly reliable V2500 engine is offered through IAE International Aero Engines AG, a multinational aero engine consortium whose shareholders comprise Pratt & Whitney (a unit of Raytheon Technologies), Pratt & Whitney Aero Engines International GmbH, Japanese Aero Engines Corporation and MTU Aero Engines.
Pratt & Whitney and IAE have been enhancing services for the V2500 engine, including LLP solutions, new and serviceable material programs, engine swaps and more, which can be tailored and customised to support the particular requirements of the cargo market. With long-term agreements, fixed price services and transactional solutions, the company offers an increasing variety of Workscopes and payment options.
The V2500 engine is also backed by a global network of 18 facilities for MRO, including nine IAE partner facilities, of which three are managed by Pratt & Whitney and its joint ventures: the Turkish Engine Centre in Istanbul, the Shanghai Engine Centre in China and the Christchurch Engine Centre in New Zealand.
The Airbus aircraft was converted by EFW in at ST Engineering’s facility in Singapore and will be the only aircraft phased into Qantas’ fleet this year.
Gregoire Lebigot, CEO - Vallair added: “The A321 is the future of freighter conversions. Not only is this freighter variant better for the environment due to its 20% reduction in fuel burn, but it offers enhanced performance across range, payload and volume with a unique capacity for fourteen container positions in the upper deck and ten more on the containerised lower cargo deck. Thanks to its fly by wire technology, the A321 is more advanced - and the aircraft is still in production.”
(Pictures courtesy: Pratt & Whitney and Vallair)
