Pratt & Whitney on Sunday announced that is has managed to reduce fuel burn on the PW1100G-JM for the A320neo family by another 2 percent. Dubbed the PurePower Engine Advantage, the enhancement centers on improved aerodynamics and cooling.

“The increased fuel burn savings on this Geared Turbofan engine model will help drive unbeatable operating efficiency on the A320neo aircraft,” said Dave Brantner, president of Pratt & Whitney Commercial Engines. “Enhancing fuel burn savings is one example of Pratt & Whitney's drive to constantly improve on mature technology that will benefit engine durability and reliability for customers.”

The PW1100G-JM engine has completed over 80 percent of its certification testing and the company has delivered two engines to Airbus. The PurePower engine family as a whole has completed nearly 10,000 hours and 19,000 cycles of full engine testing, including 1,400 hours of flight time.

“Testing continues to validate the Geared Turbofan engine’s fan drive gear system in harsh environments while conducting strict, regulated trial runs,” said Brantner. “Pratt & Whitney's engine architecture technology is robust and makes it the most mature of the new generation of commercial engines with nearly 10,000 hours of combined ground and flight testing.”

The company has now tested 50 Geared Turbofan (GTF) engine builds since initiating testing in September 2010. All of the GTF engine models remain on track to enter service meeting the fuel efficiency targets established with customers, it said.

Meanwhile, Pratt & Whitney has delivered the first set of engines to Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation and continues to “work closely” with Bombardier on the PW1500G engine, now grounded after a May 29 uncontained failure during ground testing on the first CSeries test airplane.