Flight International Online news 09:30GMT: China Southern Airlines has opted to fit Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines to its five Airbus A380 aircraft, which the airline will begin introducing in late 2007.
It becomes the seventh of the 11 customers for the A380 to select the Trent 900 over the rival Engine Alliance GP7200 powerplant.
China Southern has inked a memorandum of understanding with Rolls-Royce during a visit by the UK manufacturer’s chief executive to the airline’s Guangzhou headquarters.
The airline, which formally signed for the A380s at the beginning of this year, describes the Trent 900 as a “perfect match” for the aircraft.
China Southern already operates Trent 700-powered Airbus A330s in its fleet. Rolls-Royce values the agreement to supply the Trent 900 engines at around $600 million.
DAVID KAMINSKI-MORROW / LONDON
Source: Flight International
