UK engine manufacturer set to join long-range twinjet programme as Northwest drops rival GEnx
Rolls-Royce is on the brink of a crucial breakthrough for its Trent 1000 engine as it closes on a long-delayed agreement with Airbus to power the A350, and prepares to again offer the engine to Northwest Airlines in the wake of the collapse of the carrier’s Boeing 787 engine deal with General Electric.
“We are in close discussions with Airbus, and we have been for some time,” says R-R civil aerospace president Mike Terrett. “We are close on this, but we are not there yet on a firm agreement.” R-R declines to comment, but is understood to have agreed a concession with Airbus that enables it to offer a derivative of the Trent 1000 on early delivery positions.
Under Airbus’s “preferred supplier” agreement with GE, the first 150 orders are believed to be “open” to the US manufacturer, which cannot comment under the terms of its non-disclosure agreement with Airbus. Although not considered an “exclusive” deal in a legal sense, the deal strongly favours GE, which is financially supporting the A350 development effort. The US engine maker says: “GE does not have an exclusive engine agreement with Airbus on the A350 aircraft. Airbus has discretion to offer the R-R engine at any time.” To date GE has already passed the half-way point towards this notional number, having announced orders worth over $2 billion to power more than 80 A350s during the Paris air show.
Although this allows GE to leverage its lead position, an engine agreement with R-R will mean the UK engine maker assumes some of GE’s financial commitment to development of the aircraft. The negotiations with Airbus are also thought to have been held up by wrangling over minor technical issues concerning adapting the non-bleed 787 engine to the bleed-dependent A350, and by the timing of developments to ensure it will meet a higher-thrust requirement.
Terrett says: “We will tailor the engine to suit the aircraft, and we may size the core a little differently.” Airbus has privately expressed some concern over R-R’s ability to meet the 2010 entry-into-service target for the A350 with the fully adapted Trent 1000 derivative, although the engine maker is confident this is “do-able”.
The memorandum of understanding between GE and Northwest Airlines over the terms for offering the GEnx on the 787 has lapsed, which may re-open the door to R-R.
Source: Flight International
