Rolls-Royce has confirmed the selection of the Trent 900 by Lufthansa to power 15 Airbus A380s in a deal worth $750 million to the UK manufacturer (Flight International, 7-13 May).
Industry sources say R-R and Lufthansa continue to discuss a potential Trent engine maintenance joint venture to replace R-R's earlier plans to link with SR Technics in the Temro venture.
The Lufthansa win gives a near 50:50 split between the General Electric/Pratt & Whitney Engine Alliance GP7000 and the Trent 900 on the A380. R-R will power 43 aircraft while Alliance will power 42, including unannounced FedEx Express orders.
Richard Smallwood, R-R senior vice-president airlines, says the Lufthansa win is important as it has Trent 500-powered Airbus A340-600s on order. Lufthansa will take delivery of its first A380 in 2007. Production of the Trent 900 is scheduled to start next March and component testing has begun.
Meanwhile, Rolls-Royce Deutsch-land signed a memorandum of understanding at the show with RSK MiG and Tupolev for a six-month evaluation of a BR715-powered Tupolev Tu-334 100-seat regional airliner. The company will also study the potential market. RSKMiG says certification of the Progress-powered Tu-334 is still on schedule for 2003.
R-RD is also in negotiations with China's AVIC I over possible use of the 14,750lb-thrust (66kN) BR710 on the ARJ21 regional jet.
Source: Flight International
