Rolls Royce wins $1.8bn engine order from another Chinese Airline
• Rolls Royce supplies 56% of engines for large airliners in China
• Asian airlines expect to have a fleet of 12,200 planes by 2029
Rolls Royce has won its second big engine contract since its safety scare, announcing a $ 1.8bn (£1.12bn) deal with Air China.
The deal is to supply engines for 20 new wide-bodied Airbus aircraft for Air China. The engines are different from the Trent 900 model used on the Airbus “superjumbo” which exploded in mid-air but are part of the same Trent family.
Rolls said in a statement that it was “very proud” that the airliner had “again put their trust in us”.
The contract follows the $ 1.2bn engine deal this month with China Eastern Airlines which was struck during the government’s trade delegation to the country.
Rolls said that following this second deal, the company now supplies more than half – 56% – of engines for new large airliners in China.
The Air China contract is to supply Trent XWB engines for 10 A350 planes and Trent 700 engines for ten A330s. The company said that it confirmed its position as market leader for the A330, securing three quarters of new orders over the last three years.
Asia is forecast to drive aviation expansion in the coming decades. Boeing recently estimated that commercial planes worth more than $ 1.3tn would be needed over the next 20 years and airlines based in Asia would nearly triple the size of their fleet from 4,110 airplanes last year to 12,200 in 2029.
Steve Miller, Rolls-Royce, Civil Aerospace Vice President for China, said: “Our world class technology and service support enables our customers to achieve unrivalled performance benefits. We are very proud that Air China has again put their trust in us with this new order for the Trent XWB engine and a follow-on order for the Trent 700.”
Rolls is hoping that it has succeeded in drawing a line under the crisis, which at its most serious saw its shares slump 10%. Ten days ago it said that it had identified the faulty component which it believed was responsible for the explosion and oil leak found in other Trent 900 engines. It has promised to replace this component – which it didn’t name – on all 20 A380 planes that are flying with its engines. But analysts cautioned that because inspections were continuing, it was still too soon to proclaim that the problems had been solved. They also said that the scare had dented Rolls’ untarnished global reputation for engineering excellence and safety and could hit engine sales.
Rolls’ chief executive Sir John Rose, who has spent 14 years at the helm, is retiring in March.
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