Rolls-Royce lands £1bn order to supply International Airlines Group
AERO engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce has won a massive £1.05bn ($1.6bn) order to supply its Trent XWB power plants to International Airlines Group.
The engines will power 18 Airbus A350-1000 aircraft and the order includes long-term TotalCare® service support. In addition, IAG has placed options for a further 18 A350 aircraft.
The A350-1000 aircraft is powered exclusively by the higher-thrust version of the Trent XWB.
Willie Walsh, Chief Executive Officer, IAG, said: “The A350-1000 will bring many benefits to our fleet. Its size and range will be an excellent fit for our existing network and, with lower unit costs, there is an opportunity to operate a new range of destinations profitably. This will not only bring greater flexibility to our network but also more choice for our customers.”
Mark King, President – Aerospace, Rolls-Royce, said: “The Trent XWB has already proven itself in test flights to be the most efficient large aero engine flying today. The engine is demonstrating outstanding operational and environmental performance in its development programme. We are delighted IAG have chosen our 97,000lb higher thrust version of the Trent XWB, which builds on that success.”
The Trent XWB, specifically designed for the 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 A380 flying test bed.
The Trent XWB engine variant that will exclusively power the A350-800 and -900 was awarded European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) type certification in February and will power the first A350 XWB into service in 2014.
The announcement follows recent confirmation by IAG that Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines will power 18 Boeing 787 aircraft that it plans to convert from options to firm orders joining 24 that are already on order.
British Airways already operates Rolls-Royce powered Boeing 747, 757, 767 and 777 and the Trent 900 powered A380 is due to enter service later this year.
Elsewhere, the company has agreed to sell its joint shareholding and interest in the RTM322 helicopter engine programme to Turbomeca in a deal worth almost £251m.
Rolls-Royce’s 50% interest in the engine programme will be progressively transferred to Turbomeca, owned by Safran, which will then hold 100% of the RTM322 programme.
Turbomeca will assume full responsibility for the design, production and support of the RTM322 engine, which powers the Apache, EH101 Merlin and NH90 helicopters. Rolls-Royce said it would provide full assistance to Turbomeca during the multi-year transition period to ensure all RTM322 customers continued to receive effective support.
The sale is expected to complete before year end, subject to closing conditions.
