Pratt & Whitney, an RTX business, has announced that China Airlines has inducted its first Pratt & Whitney GTF engine.

Jung-Hui Lee, vice president at China Airlines, said: “With the induction of our first GTF engine, we continue to build upon our longstanding relationship with Pratt & Whitney.”

China Airlines joined the GTF MRO network in 2020, with its engineering and maintenance organisation providing disassembly, assembly, and test capability for the PW1100G-JM engine – the GTF model that powers the Airbus A320neo family aircraft.

In 2019, China Airlines selected the GTF engine to power 25 Airbus A321neo aircraft, along with an EngineWise Maintenance long-term agreement for engine MRO.

China Airlines currently operates 10 of these aircraft, with up to an additional 15 on order.

Lee added: “The GTF engine is one of the industry’s most fuel-efficient engines and we’re confident that it will pave the way towards a more sustainable future.

“We look forward to growing our capabilities with today’s most advanced technology to be ready to meet the needs of current and future operators, many of them here in Asia.”

Marc Meredith, vice president GTF Engines Aftermarket at Pratt & Whitney, said: “We are aggressively pursuing strategic collaborations to grow GTF MRO network capabilities.

“Our relationship with China Airlines dates back more than six decades, when they began operating aircraft powered by our Twin Wasp engines.”

In 2023, Pratt & Whitney announced three facility expansions and three shop activations across the GTF MRO network, which has more than doubled in size in four years.

By 2025, the company expects to have 19 GTF MRO shops online.

China Airlines marks the 14th active location and sixth in Asia-Pacific for PW1100G-JM overhaul overhaul, alongside Eagle Services Asia (ESA) in Singapore, IHI and MHI in Japan, and MTU Maintenance Zhuhai and Ameco Beijing in China.

The network is part of Pratt & Whitney EngineWise solutions, which provide operators with a variety of aftermarket services resulting in long-term, sustainable value.