Safran CEO Sees New Leap Aircraft Engine Meeting Performance Target

By Robert Wall 

LONDON--Safran SA (SAF.FR) Chief Executive Jean-Paul Herteman said the new Leap aircraft engine the company is developing with General Electric Co. (GE) would meet its performance target at service entry.

Mr. Herteman told reporters he was "totally confident" the engine, which is due to power the Airbus Group NV (AIR.FR) A320neo airliner in service from next year and the Boeing Co. (BA) 737 MAX single-aisle plane from 2017, will achieve its performance goals amid reports the Leap was consuming more fuel than planned.

The engine is generally one of the main factors determining the fuel efficiency of Airbus and Boeing jets. Both plane makers have promised airlines big efficiency gains with the upgraded single-aisle jets they are now developing.

Mr. Herteman, who wouldn't address the Leap engine's specific performance during trials, said the development process was "really doing very well."

Airbus plans to begin flight tests of the A320neo with the Safran-GE engine in the summer. A version flying with an engine from rival Pratt & Whitney, the engine unit of United Technologies Corp. (UTX), is already in flight testing and due for first delivery before year-end.

The departing Safran chief executive also said he hoped the Airbus A380 superjumbo would win new orders. The Paris-based French aerospace supplier provides the engine casing on the plane and other parts. He said a decision on putting new engines on the plane, referred to as the A380neo, rested with Airbus and would depend on the business case.

Airbus officials have said they are studying the issue.

Emirates Airline, the biggest buyer of the plane, has been urging the Toulouse-based plane maker to launch the program. Tim Clark, the airline's president, has promised as many as 200 orders for the new jet.

Write to Robert Wall at [e-mail]

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