Jet engine in which a large front fan drives air around the core, producing most of the thrust with greater efficiency and less noise.
What it is
A turbofan is a gas turbine with a large-diameter fan at the front. Some of the air it accelerates enters the core, where it is compressed, mixed with fuel and burnt to drive the turbines; the rest bypasses the core through an outer duct and leaves at the back without being burnt. In modern civil engines this slower, much larger bypass stream provides most of the thrust.
Moving a large mass of air relatively slowly is more efficient and quieter than firing a small mass out at very high speed, as the turbojet did. That is why the turbofan displaced the turbojet in commercial aviation from the 1960s onwards, and why it now powers the great majority of jet airliners and freighters.
Familiar examples include the CFM56 on the A320 family and the Boeing 737 Classic and Next Generation, the GE90 on many Boeing 777s, and the Rolls-Royce Trent family on the A350 and many 787s.
On Vuelopedia
An aircraft record shows the model and number of its engines, and the Manufacturers section has profiles of the engine makers.
Related terms
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This page was last updated on October 9, 2026
APA
Vuelopedia. (2026, October 9). Turbofan. Retrieved October 16, 2026, from https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/turbofan
MLA
“Turbofan.” Vuelopedia, Fundación Poderia, 9 Oct. 2026, vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/turbofan. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.
Chicago
Vuelopedia. “Turbofan.” Fundación Poderia. Last modified October 9, 2026. https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/turbofan.
Harvard
Vuelopedia (2026) Turbofan. Available at: https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/turbofan (Accessed: 16 October 2026).
BibTeX
@misc{vuelopedia_en_glossary_turbofan,
author = {{Vuelopedia}},
title = {{Turbofan}},
publisher = {Fundación Poderia},
year = {2026},
date = {2026-10-09},
url = {https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/turbofan},
howpublished = {\url{https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/turbofan}},
urldate = {2026-10-16},
note = {Accessed 2026-10-16}
}Wikipedia
{{cite web |url=https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/turbofan |title=Turbofan |website=Vuelopedia |publisher=Fundación Poderia |date=2026-10-09 |access-date=2026-10-16 |language=en}}