PAUL LEWIS / WASHINGTON DC
Offer of overhaul share is believed to have swayed deal in UK company's favour in contest with Engine Alliance
Rolls-Royce is set to win the next battle in the war to power the Airbus A380-800 with Lufthansa expected to announce the selection of the Trent 900 for its planned fleet of 15 aircraft. The UK company is understood to have swung the deal in the face of strong competition from the General Electric/Pratt & Whitney Engine Alliance by offering a generous share of its Trent engine overhaul business in Europe.
The German airline is due to announce its decision at this week's Berlin ILA air show, say industry sources on both sides of the Atlantic.
A Lufthansa win for R-R follows its loss of the biggest A380 deal to date when in February Emirates selected the Engine Alliance GP7200 for its 22 A380-800/800F freighters. R-R's share of announced orders at that time plummeted from 74% to 47%. Lufthansa and R-R both declined to comment on the deal as Flight International went to press.
The Lufthansa order is second in size only to that of Emirates and will increase to 43 the number of Trent 900-powered A380s on order, compared to 42 GP7200-powered aircraft. The latter includes 10 freighters for FedEx Express still to be officially announced. Engine decisions are still pending for the 10 aircraft ordered by International Lease Finance and two for Qatar Airways, while Atlas Air is looking at the freighter version (Flight International, 12-18 March).
Lufthansa's A380 engine decision is believed to have hinged heavily on the offer of licensed overhaul work for Lufthansa Technik, which is where R-R enjoys an advantage over the Engine Alliance.
The US partnership has offered a similar capability to Air France as part of its order for 10 GP7200-powered A380s. R-R's earlier proposed Trent 500/700 overhaul joint venture with SR Technics - Temro - collapsed along with Swissair and its order for Trent 500-powered Airbus A340-600s. Lufthansa also has A340-600s on order and was already discussing with R-R support for the Trent 500.
R-R as a result has been able to offer Lufthansa Technik exclusivity on Trent 500, 700 and 900 engine overhaul work in Europe, with guarantees on volume and return on investment. The difference in the value of potential work on offer is understood to have been several hundred million dollars, which the Engine Alliance found difficult to match.
Source: Flight International
