The long range aircraft making the world a smaller place

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Wednesday 13 January 2021 13:37 PM

The long range aircraft making the world a smaller place

Widebody aircraft such as the Airbus A350 XWB and the Boeing 787 Dreamliner are known for incredible long-range operations such as the longest scheduled route in the world: Singapore – Newark, an 8,300 nm flight flown by the A350. These missions are made possible by their versatile and capable Trent engines – the Trent XWB and Trent 1000.

Some carriers choose not only to operate long-haul missions, but they also trust these versatile machines for short range, intra-regional or domestic routes. Nowhere is this more prominent than in Japan, where passenger demand for travel, combined with airport capacity constraints make using a 330+ seat widebody rather than a smaller 180 seat narrowbody an attractive proposition.

Operations of this type pose different requirements for the engine and its associated services; for example, short turnaround times and a competitor that measures delay in seconds rather than minutes – the Shinkansen or Bullet Train. Our engines have been satisfying these demands in the Japanese market for both All Nippon Airways (ANA) since 2011 and Japan Airlines (JAL) since 2019.

ANA was the first airline to enter service with the 787, initially flying their Trent 1000 powered aircraft from Tokyo to sub two-hour domestic destinations such as Osaka. Likewise, JAL has taken the Trent XWB powered A350 into their fleet initially for domestic use, then later for long-haul operation, a further demonstration of the engine’s versatility. Today, across these two Trent-powered fleets, more than 60 aircraft fly up to five flights a day carrying around 90,000 passengers.

Quote from airlines

Our 787s powered by the Trent 1000 are returning to the sky at higher pace than other widebody aircraft types, despite the country being under COVID. It is our choice of aircraft to fly now as the superior fuel efficiency of the Trent 1000 makes the 787 the most economic widebody aircraft in our fleet.

- Mr. Kenshi Hamada, Vice President and General Manager, Materials Management, ANA

Our investment in the A350 with fuel-efficient and reliable Trent XWB engines has enabled us to continue serving our domestic network through the crisis and will form the backbone for recovery when we start to operate long haul flights too.

- Mr. Keisuke Suzuki, Vice President, Corporate Strategy Department, JAL

Reliability driving operational efficiency

In the Trent XWB’s first year of service, there were zero cancellations and zero inflight disruptions caused by the engine in the JAL operations.

Following a strong entry into service, the Trent 1000 continues to deliver industry-leading standards of dispatch reliability, with an average of 99.96% on time departures for domestic operations with ANA. Reliability is crucial for domestic operations because technical delays that prevent departures can have huge knock-on effects to an airline’s schedule where each aircraft operates high frequency flights.

Innovation driving operational efficiency

Technological innovation enables such versatility. For example, heated Engine Section Stators (ESS) are an elegant solution introduced into the Trent 1000 and carried forward into the Trent XWB. This feature enables pilots to taxi or hold for a take-off slot at busy airports in the freezing conditions that can occur at airports such as Shin Chitose in Sapporo, Hokkaido, knowing they will not need to carry out de-icing operations for the engine. This capability offers ground operations greater flexibility.

Another example of innovation that has delivered significant value for shorter operations is IntelligentEngine lifing. This unique service takes component lifing into the digital age, maximising part lives on an individual engine basis – with short-haul operations seeing up to 60% increase in component lives.

Customer expectations have been raised to an all-time high by our innovative new technologies and they will continue to grow. Our Trent family has raised the bar for what it means to be versatile and it’s that versatility that will help our customers on the journey ahead.