Rolls-Royce powers many Middle East airlines, including Emirates, Qatar Airways, Etihad, Middle East Airlines, Yemenia, Saudi Arabian Airlines and Gulf Air. Emirates first ordered the Trent in 1991 and now operates Trent powered Boeing 777s, Airbus A330s and A340s. The Trent family of aero-engines now has a 42 per cent market share in the Middle East.

Evidence of the region's continued growth was apparent at this year's Paris Air Show. Rolls-Royce received the largest-ever firm engine order for its civil aerospace business worth $5.6 billion at list prices, from Qatar Airways. This was for Trent XWB engines, including a a TotalCare® long term services agreement, to power Qatar''s new fleet of 80 Airbus A350 XWB twinjets, with deliveries beginning in 2013. Qatar also operates four A340-600s and has a number of V2500-powered A320 family aircraft.