Rolls-Royce signs £850m engine deal with Chinese airline

Rolls-Royce has signed a deal worth £850m with a Chinese airline.

The deal will see Rolls-Royce provide Trent XWB engines and long-term TotalCare® service agreement with China Eastern Airlines for its fleet of 20 Airbus A350-900 aircraft.

The agreement is expected to be one of the largest deals announced at the first China International Import Expo (CIIE) taking place this week in Shanghai.

Tang Bing, China Eastern Airlines, executive vice president, said: “The new A350 XWB aircraft will help China Eastern speed up our global expansion. The partnership with Rolls-Royce for engine and service supply will allow both the parties to benefit from each other’s advantages in terms of business scale, technology, development and cooperation, providing unparalleled experience to Chinese and international passengers.”

Paul Freestone, Rolls-Royce, senior vice president – customers, civil aerospace, said: “We are proud to have signed this service agreement with China Eastern, a much-valued customer, at such a significant event. Our industry-leading TotalCare solution will ensure the optimal lifetime performance of these world-leading engines powering the excellent A350 aircraft.”