April 17 (Reuters) - RTX said on Friday that its GTF Advantage engine has been approved to be installed in the Airbus A320neo family aircraft by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency.

GTF Advantage, made by the defense supplier's engine-making unit, Pratt & Whitney, delivers 4% to 8% more take-off thrust, allowing higher payload and longer range, the company said.

Airlines are increasingly seeking more fuel-efficient aircraft with greater range as they look to lower costs, reduce emissions and serve longer routes that do not have enough traffic to support larger, widebody jets.

That has heightened demand for performance upgrades that let narrowbody aircraft, such as the A320neo that carry more payload over longer distances.

The engine is fully interchangeable with Pratt & Whitney's current GTF model. RTX expects GTF Advantage to become the production standard and will stop making the old version of its GTF engines by 2028.

Pratt and Whitney has been facing delays as it continues to grapple with the fallout from a manufacturing problem disclosed in July 2023 that grounded over a thousand aircraft across the world and set in motion lengthy quality inspections.

The unit had originally expected the updated GTF engine, announced in 2021, to enter service in 2024.

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

GTF Advantage was certified by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration in February 2025.

(Reporting by Aishwarya Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)