FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German aircraft engine maker MTU Aero Engines (DE:MTXGn) expects Boeing (N:BA) to offer two jet engines for the successor model to its 737 plane, its chief executive told a weekly paper, adding this could double MTU's market share in the segment.
Airbus (PA:AIR) offers engines from two manufacturers for its A320neo aircraft: CFM International LEAP, a 50-50 joint venture between GE (N:GE) and France's Safran (PA:SAF); and United Technologies' (N:UTX) Pratt & Whitney, which is being supplied by MTU Aero Engines.
For the latest version of its 737 model, Boeing offers jet engines from CFM International LEAP.
"I am confident that this limitation will cease to exist for the successor model to the 737. This mean there will be two jet engines from two consortia, just like at Airbus," MTU Aero CEO Reiner Winkler was quoted as saying in Euro am Sonntag.
"We expect Boeing to open that market - it would surprise me if they didn't. If we were to get access to the market for the 737's successor it would double our market share in this key segment," Winkler said.
Winkler also said he saw no risk of a takeover given MTU Aero's high share price, which pushed it into Germany's blue-chip benchmark DAX index (GDAXI) last year.