Rolls-Royce secures £700m aero engine order
AERO engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce has secured an order worth £700m ($1.1bn) from Air Lease Corporation for Trent XWB engines to power its 25 Airbus A350XWB aircraft.
Twenty of the Airbus A350 XWB aircraft will be the 900 variant and five will be the -1000 variant which is powered by a higher-thrust version of the Trent XWB. Air Lease Corporation also has options for an additional five A350-1000 aircraft.
Steven Udvar-Hazy, Chief Executive Officer, Air Lease Corporation, said: “This is ALC’s first selection of Trent XWB technology, to power A350-900 and A350-1000 aircraft. We look forward to receiving these engines, which are demonstrating excellent operational performance and environmental efficiency and will help deliver real advantages to our customers.”
Mark King, Rolls-Royce, President – Aerospace, said: “We are delighted that Air Lease Corporation has become a significant new customer for the latest version of our world-leading Trent engine technology. The Trent XWB is already proving itself to be the most efficient large civil aircraft engine in the world.”
The Trent XWB, specifically designed for the Airbus A350 XWB, is the fastest selling Trent engine ever, with more than 1,200 already sold. It took to the skies for the first time in February 2012, on an Airbus A380 flying test bed, and in 2014 the Trent XWB will power the first Airbus A350 XWB into service.
Elsewhere, Coventry MPs have held talks with the Government to try and gain assurances that it will do all it can to help secure further jobs at the Rolls-Royce maintenance facility at Ansty Park.
The company announced last month it would be streamlining operations at the plant, which would result in almost 400 redundancies.
Unions have blamed Government defence cutbacks for the loss in business at the site.
