Middle East Airlines has signed with Rolls-Royce a long-term maintenance agreement for Trent 7000 engines powering a fleet of Airbus A330neo jets that the Lebanese carrier intends to order.
FlightGlobal had reported earlier that MEA was intending to seal a Trent 7000 support pact.
Rolls-Royce says that MEA has “decided to purchase” four A330-900s and place options for another two of the long-haul twinjet. Deliveries are scheduled for 2021, the UK engine maker adds, in line with previous MEA declarations.
The Trent 7000 is the sole powerplant available for the A330neo.
Rolls-Royce says the maintenance agreement – signed today by the MEA chairman Mohamad El-Hout in presence of Lebanon’s prime minister Saad Hariri – will be valid “throughout” the engines’ operating period with MEA and include provision of spare parts and engines.
MEA will use the new aircraft to replace a fleet of Trent 700-powered A330-200s. El-Hout states that the support agreement will provide an “optimisation to our maintenance costs”.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
