Cargolux, Europe’s leading all-cargo airline became the first operator globally to fly one million hours with this new engine type and remains GE’s GEnx fleet chief in total operating hours. With the first delivery of the 747-8F, Cargolux also became the launch customer of the GEnx engine that characterise a massive leap forward in propulsion technology, using the most modern materials and design processes to lessen weight and boost performance. Cargolux has not experienced basic-engine caused an in-flight shutdown of the engine since its entry into service.
Onno Pietersma, Cargolux EVP Maintenance & Engineering
“One million flight hours on a new engine type is a tremendous achievement, both for GE and Cargolux,” said Onno Pietersma, Cargolux EVP Maintenance & Engineering. “Our confidence in the GEnx has well paid off, even if we had to work around some teething problems with the engine that are perfectly normal for such an innovative design. GE’s support team has been extremely helpful in getting things on track and our 747-8 freighters benefit from the superior performance of this powerplant.”
”The GEnx engine has proven itself to be an outstanding engine in terms of technology and performance,” remarked Tom Levin, general manager for GE’s GEnx engine program. “As the GEnx launch customer, Cargolux has led the fleet and we are proud to celebrate the one million flight hours with them.”
The Cargolux freighters flew record numbers of block hours last year and as a chief operator of Boeing’s 747-8F, the airline regularly achieves a record-high utilisation of its fleet. Cargolux’s Maintenance Division maintains the fleet schedule consistency on a major level with a usual dispatch rate of 97.7percent for the 747-8F and 97.5 percent for the 747-400F in 2016. The 747-8 Freighter provides double-digit improvements in fuel consumption and carbon emissions below ICAO limits.
