Innovations
A321neo goes hot and high with Pratt & Whitney
Pratt & Whitney, which currently offers a Pure Power Geared Turbo Fan engine on the A321neo with 33,000 pounds of thrust, has announced a 2,000 pound increase via a thrust bump that will improve take-off performance out of hot and high airports.
Not so long ago, airlines in Latin America were focusing on building their fleets with the A320 Family by using A319s to open new routes, serve thin markets and fly long sectors while complementing with the higher capacity A320s as routes would mature and traffic increased.
Over the last 10 years or so, the region’s traffic has consistently grown above the world average, with Latin American airlines reaching growth rates only behind airlines in the Middle East. Latin American airlines have not only grown their fleet size while significantly decreasing their average age, but they have also shifted smoothly to higher capacity aircraft, increasing the average aircraft size by more than 13percent since the year 2000.
It was only a matter of time before Latin American airlines would seriously consider moving into the A321 size, following what is a clear market trend. But with the A321 being capable of carrying well over 200 passengers and even though it is equipped with 33,000 pound thrust engines, take-off performance from very high altitude airports remained somewhat challenging.
Pratt &Whitney’s new thrust bump for the A321neo will allow Latin American airlines, many of which serve or have main bases at these challenging airports, to achieve maximum payloads, serve new destinations and maximize fleet productivity by introducing a new member of the A320neo Family. In hot and high conditions, aircraft performance is very sensitive to many parameters, but there are cases where the A321neo range gain is as much as 700nm. This would mean, for example, covering the whole North American market from Mexico City or serving the US East Coast from Bogota while offering over 20 percent more seats per flight.
For more information contact:
Amaya Rodriguez Gonzalez
Director Marketing, Latin America & the Caribbean
amaya.rodriguez-gonzalez@airbus.com