British Airways selects Rolls-Royce power for long haul fleet

Thursday, 27 September 2007

British Airways has selected Rolls-Royce Trent engines to power up to 61 new long haul aircraft that it will acquire from Airbus and Boeing. The order, which includes an innovative TotalCare contract, is potentially worth in excess of $5 billion at list prices.

The order includes 12 firm and seven option Airbus A380 aircraft and 24 firm and 18 option Boeing 787s, scheduled for delivery from 2010.

Willie Walsh, Chief Executive Officer of British Airways, said: “The Rolls-Royce Trent family has a proven track record of strong environmental performance. The engines we have selected are supported by an innovative service offering and we know that they will deliver the best operational value.”

Sir John Rose, Chief Executive of Rolls-Royce plc, said: “We are very pleased that British Airways has selected the Trent for its new long-haul fleet, extending an extremely valuable and productive partnership long into the future.”

The Trent 900 is launch engine for the Airbus A380 and enters service next month. It is the world’s quietest and cleanest high thrust engine for the A380, with levels of emissions well below the requirements of all current and proposed legislation.

The Trent 1000 is the launch engine for all variants of the Boeing 787 and will power the aircraft’s first flight later this year, before entering service on the 787-8 in 2008. The engine has been specifically designed to maximise its environmental performance.

British Airways operates a fleet of 107 Rolls-Royce powered aircraft, including 57 Boeing 747s, 16 Boeing 777s with a further four on order, 21 Boeing 767s and 13 Boeing 757s.
The airline also has 68 Airbus A320 family aircraft in operation of which 60 are powered by the V2500 engine produced by IAE (International Aero Engines) in which Rolls-Royce is a senior shareholder.
Including business yet to be announced, orders have been placed for over 600 Trent 1000 engines by 18 operators and five leasing companies – approximately half the Boeing 787 customers who have made an engine decision. Producing a range of thrusts from 53,000 - 75,000lb, a single version of the Trent 1000 will power all variants of the 787: the 787–8, 787-3 and 787-9. For more information about the Trent 1000, visit www.rolls-royce.com/trent1000.
The Trent 900 has completed more development testing than any other Rolls-Royce engine, accumulating over 37,000 cycles on combined ground and flight tests, and more than 14,000 flying hours on four of the five flight test aircraft. Eight out of the eleven customers who have made engine selections to date on the A380 have selected the Trent 900.
TotalCare, tailored for individual operators, offers a range of services from Rolls-Royce covering all aspects of asset management in support of its Civil Aerospace products. Building on the company’s knowledge, experience and infrastructure, these services include elements such as predictive maintenance, logistics management, and global repair and overhaul offerings. TotalCare can remove uncertainties from engine management and improve operational reliability for operators through a mutually aligned business relationship.
Rolls-Royce is continually improving the environmental impact of its products. Each year Rolls-Royce, in collaboration with its partners, invests around £700 million on research and development, two thirds of which has the objective of reducing the environmental impact of its products and operations. This technology investment is primarily aimed at reducing noise and emissions.

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