Pratt and Whitney are testing a Geared Turbofan, with 30 000 pound thrust, on Airbus 340 testbed.
Why? What does geared turbofan have to do with A340? They are supposed to develop it for Mitsubishi Regional Jet, and Bombardier C-series if ever launched. And they have no need for any Airbus testbed, because Pratt and Whitney have their own 747 engine testbed.
Or is it because Airbus wants the GTF?
340-300 makes do with as little as 31 200 pounds thrust (CFM56-5C2). And note that GTF is supposed to offer lower cruise fuel burn. If you reengine an A340-300 with 30 000 pound GTF-s, you will lose some of the takeoff performance, which you compensate for by decreasing MTOW. This limits your fuel load, but the decrease of cruise burn could mean you can achieve equal or longer range with less total fuel load. Which means that the MTOW and fuel economy of A340-300 may approach or improve from the performance of A330-300 twin.
Underwing space is a solvable problem. CFM56-5C has fan tip diametre of 72,3 inches. A330 and A340-500 manage to accommodate Rolls-Royce Trents with 97,4 inches fan diametre under the same wing.
So... are any airlines interested in buying GTF A340-300?
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