Lufthansa Technik and GE today celebrate a new flight hour record for GE's CF6-80C2B1F turbofan engine powering Boeing 747-400 aircraft around the world. The first engines of its type operated by Deutsche Lufthansa and maintained by Lufthansa Technik have now surpassed the outstanding record of 100,000 flight hours.
Lufthansa currently operates a fleet of 120 CF6-80C2B1F engines, five of which have greater than 100,000 flight hours each. An additional eight engines in operation all have greater than 99,000 flight hours. Together, the fleet of Lufthansa's CF6-80C2B1F engines have achieved a grand total of 10 million flight hours.
"This record is an outstanding achievement for Lufthansa and our CF6-80C2 engine," said Colleen Athans, General Manager for GE Aviation's CF6 Product Line. "Lufthansa Technik's strong maintenance program, combined with GE's wide range of technical support, enabled the engine to attain this record, and we commend Deutsche Lufthansa and Lufthansa Technik MRO staffs."
"The robust CF6-80C2 is a true leader in its class - it keeps running and running and running," says Stephan Drewes, Vice President Engine Services at Lufthansa Technik. "We are proud to operate and maintain this engine for such a long time with outstanding in-service reliability. The mark of 100,000 flight hours shows what is achievable when two experts like Lufthansa Technik and GE work together on a successful product."
The CF6-80C2 entered commercial service in 1985, and was chosen to power two advanced versions of the Airbus Industrie A300, two versions of the A310, four models of the advanced Boeing 767, three versions of the Boeing 747, and the McDonnell Douglas MD-11 trijet. With its slightly larger fan than the predecessor CF6-80A it was developed with thrust ratings from 52,500 to 63,500 pounds.
Within Lufthansa Technik's worldwide engine services network, the CF6-80 is maintained both in the engine shops at the company's Hamburg headquarters as well as at its subsidiary LTQ Engineering in Melbourne. In addition, Lufthansa Technik's Airline Support Teams AST® offer numerous innovative maintenance solutions that can be delivered on-site at the customer's premises or even on-wing.
GE Aviation
GE Aviation, an operating unit of GE (NYSE: GE), is a world-leading provider of jet and turboprop engines, components and integrated systems for commercial, military, business and general aviation aircraft. GE Aviation has a global service network to support these offerings.
Lufthansa Technik:
The Lufthansa Technik Group, with more than 30 subsidiaries and about 26,000 employees worldwide, is one of the leading manufacturer-independent providers of services for the aviation industry. In 2009, the Group's overall revenues stood at 4 billion euros. Lufthansa Technik is licensed internationally as a repair, production and development enterprise. The Group's portfolio encompasses the entire spectrum of services in the areas of maintenance, repair, overhaul, modification and conversion, engines and components.
