Rolls-Royce reflects on string of Farnborough Air Show deals

Rolls-Royce is reflecting on a busy week at the Farnborough Air Show during which it announced several significant deals.

Last week, the firm, which has its civil aerospace division, in Derby, welcomed in a number of new orders and agreements for aircraft which are powered by its engines, while also announcing maintenance contracts.

Among them was an order placed by Japan Airlines, which said it was buying 20 Airbus A350-900 widebody aircraft, finalising a commitment announced earlier this year.

The new A350-900s, which are powered by Rolls-Royce’s Trent XWB engines, will join the carrier’s A350 fleet serving international routes. Japan Airlines has ordered a total of 52 A350s, with 18 in service.

Ewen McDonald, chief customer officer for Rolls-Royce (civil aerospace), said: “We are delighted to welcome Japan Airlines’ order for 20 Airbus A350-900.

“JAL’s decision to order additional aircraft confirms their confidence in the Trent XWB and A350 combination.

“We look forward to supporting these new aircraft as they enter service.”

During Farnborough, Abra Group also signed a Memorandum of Understanding for five Trent XWB-84 powered Airbus A350-900 aircraft.

Designed, developed and built in Derby, the Trent XWB is regarded as the world’s most efficient large aero engine in service, offering a 15% fuel consumption advantage over the first generation of Trent engine. It also offers leading performance and noise levels.

The engine is certified to operate on a 50% Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) blend and has been proven to be compatible with 100% SAF for the future.

To further improve the performance of the engine, Rolls-Royce is investing more than £1 billion in a programme that will deliver enhanced time on wing across the in-production Trent fleet.

There were also orders and agreements for other products within the Trent engine family during Farnborough.

Virgin Atlantic placed an order 14 additional Trent 7000 engines to power seven Airbus A330neo, while airline flynas signed a Memorandum of Understanding for 15 Trent 7000 powered Airbus A330neo aircraft.

The Trent 7000 is the latest addition to the Rolls-Royce Trent family of engines and exclusively powers the Airbus A330neo.

The engines ordered by flynas will be covered by Rolls-Royce’s TotalCare service, which is designed to provide operational certainty for customers by transferring time on wing and maintenance cost risk to Rolls-Royce.

It is supported by data delivered through the Rolls-Royce advanced engine health monitoring system, which helps provide customers with increased operational availability, reliability and efficiency.

Earlier this year, at the Singapore Airshow, Vietnamese airline Vietjet announced it would be ordering 40 Trent 7000 engines, which will power 20 Airbus A330neo aircraft.

At Farnborough, it announced that Rolls-Royce will look after the engines while they are in service as part of a TotalCare service agreement.