Air France KLM – first commercial GEnx engine delivered

Engine Services (ES), which forms part of Engineering Maintenance Division, recently took delivery of the first GEnx engine. Last year, Air France-KLM chose for the GEnx-1B as the engine to power the B787.

At the same time a decision was reached to maintain the engine in-house for both Air France-KLM and its customers. Implementation got under way immediately in order to be able to take on third-party work as soon as possible.

ES setup this process last year and obtained the various EASA certificates needed to maintain the GEnx engine. After becoming accredited, the first commercial engine rolled in from Qatar Airways for maintenance. The engine was contracted out to KLM on behalf of GE.

The maintenance programme included replacement of the combustion chamber of the engine and carrying out several modifications. The GEnx requires a Quick Turn (QT) maintenance check. The QT is intended to swiftly resolve any operational fleet problems for engines in service between shop visits. In the period ahead, ES will be expanding its activities to facilitate full shop visits.

The engines will be maintained in Amsterdam and repairs to components will be carried out across the Air France-KLM E&M network. The engine will be tested in Paris. The next engine has also arrived at ES for a GEnx Quick Turn, in this case for Ethiopian Airlines.