Airbus is not stripping the cowling from engines on aircraft already in service. It is working with CFM International on an unducted, or “open-fan,” engine demonstrator through CFM’s RISE technology program. The design could reduce fuel use, but its performance, noise, durability and certification still need to be demonstrated. CFM says the demonstrator is not a product for sale.
What an open-fan engine is—and why remove the cowling?
A conventional turbofan encloses its large front fan in a nacelle, the engine’s outer casing. An open fan places its large blades outside that surrounding cowling. The idea is to move more air efficiently with a larger fan while avoiding some of the casing’s drag.
That is a different engine architecture, not a modification to Airbus’s current passenger fleet. Airbus and CFM are developing the concept as part of RISE (Revolutionary Innovation for Sustainable Engines), a technology demonstration program.
How much fuel could it save?
CFM’s stated target is more than 20% better fuel burn than commercial engines in service today. Airbus has also described a goal of reducing fuel consumption and CO2 emissions by more than 20% relative to today’s most efficient engines. These are manufacturer targets, not independently verified results or guaranteed savings for airlines; the eventual comparison depends on the baseline and aircraft configuration. CFM’s RISE program information describes the technology work and its targets.
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Airbus and CFM’s 2022 announcement framed a 20% CO2 reduction as a benefit the flight-test program would evaluate, relative to today’s most efficient engines using traditional Jet-A fuel. The announcement said greater improvements could be realized with sustainable aviation fuel (SAF); it did not report an achieved reduction. The 2022 flight-test announcement sets out that qualification.
Separately, Airbus has discussed a possible 20–30% fuel-efficiency improvement for a future single-aisle aircraft’s combined technology package. That estimate concerns the aircraft and its technologies together, not the open-fan engine alone. Airbus’s March 2025 roadmap presents open fan as one of several technologies under consideration.
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Where development and testing stand
In an update reported by Safran on 18 July 2026, CFM said RISE had carried out approximately 500 test campaigns over the five years since the program’s 2021 unveiling. Those campaigns span the program’s technologies, including open fan, compact core and hybrid-electric systems; they are not 500 open-fan flight tests. CFM also reported completed design reviews for key open-fan and compact-core modules, with mechanical and material tests underway on open-fan blades and outlet guide vanes. The tests include impact, ingestion, fatigue, endurance, loads, icing and vibration response. CFM said the work is maturing toward ground and flight testing this decade. CFM’s RISE program page provides the program’s testing information.
CFM’s program page describes a 1:5-scale open-fan wind-tunnel demonstrator and more than 300 hours of wind-tunnel testing, including work with an Airbus demonstrator wing to assess integration. In an April 2025 account, Airbus described earlier high-speed testing at ONERA and low-speed testing at DNW, including acoustic performance and interaction with high-lift devices. Airbus then said full-aircraft-scale model tests were planned for 2026. These are development tests, not evidence that a production engine is ready for service. Airbus’s account of the testing explains the stages described at that time.
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The trade-offs Airbus and CFM must solve
Noise and certification
Removing the nacelle changes how sound is generated and managed because the large rotor blades are exposed. Airbus says acoustic performance will be decisive in weighing open fan against an ultra-high-bypass turbofan, and the design must meet acoustic regulatory and certification requirements. CFM has reported that early wind-tunnel results exceeded its technology-maturation objectives. That company-reported milestone does not establish certified noise performance or how an aircraft would affect communities around airports. Airbus discusses the acoustic challenge; CFM’s program information describes its testing.
Aircraft and wing integration
An engine’s performance depends on its installation, not just its standalone aerodynamics. Airbus and CFM are studying the relationship between engine and wing and interactions with flaps and slats. The wind-tunnel and model work is intended to assess how the architecture behaves as part of an aircraft.
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Durability and airline operations
Blade and outlet-guide-vane tests address impacts, ingestion, fatigue, endurance, loads, icing and vibration. These are relevant to the demands of airline operation, but tests in progress do not establish an engine’s service life, maintenance intervals or operating costs.
SAF, hybridization and other energy options
Airbus and CFM have described SAF compatibility as a development objective. A February 2026 release from Singapore’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAAS) also describes the architecture as being developed for compatibility with future hybrid-electric systems. Airbus’s 2025 account mentions hydrogen among energy sources being assessed for compatibility at the broader RISE-program level; that does not establish hydrogen as the open-fan demonstrator’s chosen fuel or a production configuration. CAAS’s 2026 release covers the Singapore initiative, while Airbus’s account describes the program-level energy considerations.
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Airport readiness
On 2 February 2026, CAAS, CFM and Airbus signed a memorandum of understanding to develop an airport-readiness framework and plan trials at Changi or Seletar. The planned work covers system and design issues, possible infrastructure changes, procedures, safety standards and regulation. It is preparation for possible future operations—not evidence of certification or completed airport trials. CAAS’s announcement describes the agreement.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What Airbus has—and has not—decided
Airbus’s March 2025 roadmap included disruptive open-fan designs among the technologies it is exploring for a possible next-generation single-aisle aircraft. The company said that aircraft could enter service in the second half of the 2030s, but engine type and wing choices would be finalized only as technologies mature. Airbus has not announced open fan as the selected engine for an A320 successor. The roadmap describes the decision as still open.
For demonstration flights, Airbus and CFM announced in 2022 that they planned to use an A380 platform. Airbus reiterated in 2025 that a functioning engine would be fitted to an A380 flight-test aircraft by the end of the decade. As of 8 October 2026, the available company updates describe this as a future test goal; they do not establish that the A380 flight demonstration has taken place. A test aircraft would validate technology, not put open-fan engines into A380 passenger service. The 2022 announcement and Airbus’s 2025 account set out the planned demonstrator work.
Open fan versus an ultra-high-bypass turbofan
Airbus has identified aerodynamics, acoustics and aircraft integration as important factors in choosing between open fan and an ultra-high-bypass turbofan. The available program statements do not establish which architecture will be selected. A meaningful comparison has to consider more than a headline fuel target:
- Fuel burn: compare results against a clearly stated engine and aircraft baseline; program targets are not operating results.
- Noise: assess measured performance against regulatory and certification requirements, not just early development objectives.
- Integration: evaluate the engine with the wing and high-lift devices, rather than in isolation.
- Durability and maintenance: determine service life and maintenance needs from testing and eventual operational evidence.
- Fuel and systems: establish compatibility with SAF and any hybrid-electric architecture in a defined configuration.
- Airport operations: resolve procedures, infrastructure and safety requirements before claiming readiness for airline use.
What this could mean for travelers and aviation
If an open-fan design eventually meets performance, noise, durability and certification requirements, it could become one option for improving the efficiency of future aircraft. The potential matters because fuel consumption and emissions are central to aviation’s operating and environmental challenges. But a demonstrator’s targets do not tell travelers what a future ticket will cost, whether an airline will adopt the design, or how much an individual flight’s emissions would change. Those questions depend on a certified engine, aircraft design, airline decisions and operating conditions.
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