Rolls-Royce is celebrating its 60th anniversary in Business aviation. From the beginning in 1958, which was marked by the first flight of the Dart-powered Gulfstream I, through to the recent launch of the Pearl 15-powered Bombardier Global 5500 and Global 6500, Rolls-Royce has followed a pioneering approach to offer its customers extraordinary engine technology and services.
Over the last six decades Rolls-Royce has become the world’s leading engine supplier in business aviation, powering some of the largest, fastest and longest range business jets available. Today about 3,000 of these aircraft are in service worldwide, helping companies to improve business efficiency, productivity and enabling economic growth. They offer the flexibility and connectivity required in a globalised world, fly heads of states around the globe, support humanitarian efforts or connect families by making the world a smaller place. Our engines enable airframers to offer the perfect combination of speed, range, size, efficiency and reliability.
Rolls-Royce has already delivered more than 7,000 business aviation engines to power the world’s most successful and finest business aircraft. The latest addition to this market-leading business aviation engine portfolio is the recently unveiled Pearl® engine family. Its first member, the Pearl 15, received EASA certification on 28 February 2018 and will power the new Bombardier Global 5500 and Global 6500 jets exclusively.
Dirk Geisinger, Business Aviation Director, Rolls-Royce, said: “Rolls-Royce is a true pioneer of business aviation, always pushing at the very boundaries of technology to underpin our position as the number one engine manufacturer in this market. Our recently launched Pearl family of engines and our IntelligentEngine vision will ensure we retain our leading position for another generation.
He added: “Our customers aren’t just buying an aircraft – they are buying a time machine. The aircraft is a powerful tool that helps saving their most precious good, time. And they count on us to deliver exactly that – with reliable, clean and best-in-class products.”
Central to our success in business aviation has been the commitment to leading the way in which engines are serviced. With the revolutionary 'Power-by-the-Hour' service concept, Rolls-Royce pioneered the world of engine maintenance management. First introduced to the market in 1962, this innovation provided a complete engine and accessory replacement service for the first time on a fixed-cost-per-flying-hour basis. This aligned the interests of the manufacturer and operator, who only paid for engines that performed well.
The programme has been further developed over the years and has formed the basis of the company's market-leading CorporateCare® service. Launched in 2002, the programme allows operators to remove risk related to unscheduled maintenance events and makes maintenance costs predictable and easy to plan for. CorporateCare features Engine Health Monitoring, which tracks on-wing performance using onboard sensors; lease engine access to replace an operator's engine during off-wing maintenance, thereby minimising downtime; and a global network of authorised service centres, on-wing care specialists and strategically place storage and spare parts locations to ensure that world-class support is readily available to customers whenever required. This powerful network ensures we are able to solve standard ‘aircraft on ground’ (AOG) situations in less than 24 hours – wherever the customer needs our support. CorporateCare Enhanced, the latest innovation to the programme standard, adds a wide range of services for the covered engines, including extended line maintenance and nacelle coverage for the BR710, BR725 and the brand-new Pearl 15.
“As innovators we can’t stand still. Our team is working hard to stay ahead of the competition by developing innovative products and services that are leading the way and offer substantial benefits to our customers. Whatever the future in business aviation might look like, be it supersonic flight, vertical take-off and landing, electrically driven solutions or hybrid planes, we keep pioneering the power that matters, looking forward to the next 60 years as the leading force in business aviation”, Geisinger added.
Overview of business aircraft powered by Rolls-Royce
| Engine |
Aircraft |
| Viper |
Hawker Siddeley HS.125 |
| Spey |
Gulfstream GII, GIII |
| Tay |
Gulfstream GIV, GIV-SP, G300, G350, G400, G450 |
| BR710 |
Bombardier Global Express, Global Express-XRS, Global 5000, Gulfstream GV, G500, G550 |
| AE 3007 |
Cessna Citation X, Citation X+ Embraer Legacy 600, Legacy 650 |
| BR725 |
Gulfstream G650, G650ER |
| Pearl 15 |
Bombardier Global 5500, Global 6500 |
An image gallery with highlights from our pioneering journey can be found here: https://flic.kr/s/aHskKrfi5b