A long-standing partner of General Electric for its high thrust engines, Snecma also contributes to the GP7200 program of the Engine Alliance, one of the two engines proposed for the A380 Airbus. We had three questions for André Deperrois, head of the GP7200 program with Snecma.

What does the GP7200 program represent for Snecma?

First of all, Snecma is very proud to participate in the A380 program. In terms of market share, four customers have already selected the engine from the Engine Alliance (50/50 co-operation between General Electric and Pratt & Whitney) to equip their A380s: ILFC, Air France, Fedex and Emirates. This represents a total of 67 aircraft and, already, 300 engines (original equipment and replacement) to be delivered over the coming years. And our participation in the GP7200 program comes to 10% of the engine as a whole, which is line with our target share for large engines of this generation. There is continuity with the other General Electric programs in which we participate. Since the very beginning of the CF6 engine, Snecma has taken up a position in high-pressure compressor technology, which has become one of its fields of specialization. We supply the HP compressors of the basic GE90 and the GE90-115B, and we are continuing with the GP7200. This involves the same technology, which has developed gradually and which Boeing uses to its advantage with the GE90, as does Airbus with the GP7200.

How far forward is the GP7200 program?

The program was launched in the middle of 2002. We delivered the first development high-pressure compressor to General Electric at the end of 2003. The engine ran in bench testing in April 2004, and, since then, we have been clocking up test bench hours. Nous Engine Alliance has followed up on all of the tests (loss of blades, etc.), which will be used for certification. The faisons GP7200 started its flight tests on General Electric’s flying bench last December. The stages ahead are engine certification, which is planned for the last quarter of 2005, followed by aircraft certification.

What are the main challenges involved?

The principal challenge is to satisfy our two main customers, General Electric and Airbus, so we are making every effort to respect all of the requirements of the specifications. The technical teams have done this really well, which earned them the congratulations of General Electric. We have to be highly reactive: in the test phase, we notice minor events and we try to iron these out as quickly as possible, making sure we give our customers satisfaction. And our customers say they are satisfied!