Source: AviationWeek

Airbus will decide this year whether to re-engine the A320, with company officials hoping the combination of a new powerplant and already-approved winglet upgrade could improve fuel-burn of the single-aisle aircraft by as much as 15%.

Airbus CEO Tom Enders said he expects a decision this year on whether or not to re-engine, and also what the potential powerplants might be. The goal is to keep the A320 commercially strong in the face of growing competition from the likes of the Bombardier CSeries and Comac C919.

Airbus is in talks with CFM International for an advanced turbofan, with Rolls-Royce on a three-shaft architecture, with Pratt & Whitney on the geared turbofan, and with International Aero Engines concerning a two-shaft engine. Technical assessments are now underway, with a plan to select the preferred designs to take forward around the end of March.

Airbus hopes to retain engine competition, said Christian Scherer, the aircraft maker’s executive VP-strategy.

The schedule is still under discussion, but Airbus wants to start delivering the first re-engined aircraft in the second half of 2015. Engine certification would come in 2014, if a go-ahead is given this year.

As engineers study options, they are looking how to maximize fan-diameter to deliver the highest possible bypass ratio. What the exact fan diameter size will be hasn’t been settled and is subject to commercial discussions with the various engine providers.

Wingbox and wing changes will likely be required to accommodate the new powerplant. But both those structures are already due to be modified as part of the winglet upgrade the aircraft maker announced in November; Scherer noted that with that activity underway, it makes sense now to look at what further changes would be needed for new engines to define the most highly optimized engineering approach and minimizing weight gain.