Story ID: 
GE Aviation's Passport Gets European Approval
By: Kerry Lynch
Caption: Validation comes as the engines ready to enter service on December 20 with the first delivery of a Global 7500.
Word Count: 177
As Bombardier prepared to hand over the first Global 7500 to a customer on Thursday, GE Aviation notched another milestone for the engines powering the ultra-long-range aircraft: EASA approval. EASA released the type certification sheet for the Passport 20 on December 18.

The 16,500-pound-thrust engines received the FAA nod in April 2016 and were on track to amassing 4,000-plus hours of testing and 8,000 cycles as the engine approached entry into service.

Certification comes nearly a decade after GE Aviation made a strategic decision to fully jump into the business and general aviation market. The first of the purpose-built GE Aviation business aviation turbofans, the Passport family is to fill the long-range and ultra-long-range sector in the 10,000- to 20,000-pound-thrust class.

Building on technology developed for GE’s Leap engine with a similar core, the Passport features a 23:1 compressor pressure ratio and incorporates advanced materials and technologies that are designed to provide an 8 percent lower specific fuel consumption than other in-service engines in the same class. In addition, the engines meet Stage 4 noise standards.