17th Feb 2005 14:22
17 February, 2005 ROLLS-ROYCE WINS $950 MILLION ORDER AS TRENT TRIPLE POWERS ETIHAD FLEET EXPANSION Rolls-Royce announced today (17 February) that Etihad Airways, the fast-growingAbu Dhabi airline, has chosen two more versions of its Trent engine family topower the latest phase of its fleet expansion.The deal involves Trent 900 engines for four Airbus A380s and Trent 700s topower 12 A330 twinjets. Including long-term TotalCare maintenance agreementscovering all the engines, the contract is valued at $950 million.Etihad's initial Trent selection was announced at last summer's Farnborough AirShow when the airline ordered eight, four-engined, ultra-long-distance A340-600airliners, for which the Trent 500 is the sole engine.Charles Cuddington, Managing Director, Airlines, at Rolls-Royce, said: "Etihadis setting the pace with its growth plans, and Rolls-Royce is delighted to bepart of this exciting expansion. Today's announcement means Etihad will beflying three versions of the Trent engine series on its new-generation Airbusfleet, recognition of the benefits that a family of technologies brings."Etihad's A380s will be powered by four 70,000lb thrust Trent 900s. The engineis currently in the advanced stages of development, having been certified bythe airworthiness authorities on schedule in October 2004.As the launch engine on the programme, it was unveiled on the A380 at Toulouselast month. It will begin flight testing on the A380 in Spring this year andenters commercial service in Spring, 2006.Etihad becomes the sixth airline to select Rolls-Royce power for the A380,taking total Trent 900 orders to 84 firm and option aircraft, and giving theengine a 51 per cent market share.The airline's A330 twinjets will be fitted with the 72,000lb thrust Trent 700.Last August, Etihad also agreed to lease two Trent powered A330s. The Trent700, with 28 customers and operators, is the established leader on the A330,with a 40 per cent market share.Other versions of the Trent series are the Trent 800 on the Boeing 777, and theTrent 1000, being developed for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.Today's announcement takes the total number of firm and option orders placedfor all types of Trent to over 1,900 engines from 46 customers and operators.Notes for editors:Rolls-Royce operates in four global markets - civil aerospace, defenceaerospace, marine and energy. It is investing in technology and capability thatcan be exploited in each of these sectors to create a competitive range ofproducts.The success of these products is demonstrated by the company's rapid andsubstantial gains in market share over recent years. The company now has atotal of 54,000 gas turbines in service worldwide. The investments in product,capability and infrastructure to gain this market position create high barriersto entry.Rolls-Royce has a broad customer base comprising more than 500 airlines, 4,000corporate and utility aircraft and helicopter operators, 160 armed forces andmore than 2,000 marine customers, including 70 navies. The company has energycustomers in nearly 120 countries. Rolls-Royce employs around 35,000 people, ofwhich 21,000 are in the UK. Forty per cent of its employees are based outsidethe UK - including 5,000 in the rest of Europe and 8,000 in North America.The large installed base of engines generates demand for the provision ofservices. A key element of the company's strategy is to maximize servicesrevenues, which have increased by 60 per cent over the past five years, by theprovision of a comprehensive portfolio of services.Annual sales total nearly ‚£6 billion, of which 55 per cent are servicesrevenues. The order book is more than ‚£21 billion, which, together with demandfor services, provides visibility as to future activity levels.For further information please contact:Martin JohnsonVice President, CommunicationsRolls-RoycePO Box 31DerbyDE24 8BJUKTel: +44 (0)1332 269911Fax: +44 (0)1332 269540Email: [email protected]Related Shares:
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