Dubai: General Electric Co. (GE) could still develop the new engine needed for the more fuel efficient Airbus A380 that Emirates is calling for, a senior GE executive said on Monday.
GE has shied away from building more engines for the A380 through its Engine Alliance joint venture with Pratt & Whitney because it says the market is too small. In April, Britain’s Rolls-Royce emerged as the likely manufacture of the new engine after winning a $9.2 billion order to supply Emirates with engines for 50 A380s.
But asked if GE would reconsider its position if more A380 customers emerged, Mohammad Al Lamadani, a Vice-President at GE heading the company’s aviation sales in the Middle East, told reporters “Yes, of course.”
Al Lamadani, who is in Dubai for GE’s Mind and Machines conference, did not say how many orders there would need to be for GE to reconsider.
Airbus has failed to book a new order fo the A380 in the past two years with the aircraft winning around 317 orders since 2000. Emirates is responsible for 140 of those orders and Engine Alliance has a deal to supply the airline engines for 90 of its A380s.
“It’s a great customer for us,” he said.
Emirates has been calling on Airbus to commit to developing a leaner, more fuel efficient A380 with new engines and a double digit improvement in fuel efficiency. The airline has said it could order as many as 200 A380neos (new engine option).
In April, Emirates airline President Tim Clark said he believed any new engine for the A380neo would come from Rolls-Royce.
