Rolls-Royce sees Latin America playing an increasingly crucial role in its operational portfolio as the region's airlines grow their widebody fleets.
Lewis Prebble, the UK engine manufacturer's senior vice-president for customers in the Americas, points out that R-R engines power the fleets of two of the three Latin American Boeing 787 operators – Avianca and LATAM Airlines – as well as LATAM's A350-900s, for which the Trent XWB is the only engine option.
"Towards the end of next year the Trent 7000 will [make its debut in the region] on Azul's A330neos, and, later, deliveries will begin of the [R-R-powered] A350-1000s to LATAM," noted Prebble, speaking at the ALTA Airline Leaders forum in Buenos Aires.
Flight Fleets Analyzer shows that there are currently six A350s and 36 787s in service in Latin America with Trent power, along with 26 Rolls-powered A330s. A further 48 Trent-powered widebodies are on order from the region, powering A330neos, A350s and 787s (as well as one A330-200F).
"By 2020, Rolls-Royce will account for 50% of the world's widebody fleet, and R-R's Latin American share will grow to in excess of 50% [of widebodies] in the longer term," Prebble predicts.
Source: Flight Daily News
