Rolls-Royce (R-R) has beaten the General Electric/Pratt & Whitney Engine Alliance in a campaign to supply engines to A3XX launch customer Singapore Airlines (SIA). The deal is a major breakthrough for R-R, ensuring that its Trent 900 takes pole position on the A3XX programme and will be the engine that leads the 550-seater's flight-test programme.
SIA placed 10 firm A3XX orders last month with 15 options (subject to the programme's industrial launch). The entire deal for 25 aircraft and 100 installed engines is valued at $8.6 billion. R-R's share, including spare engines, is worth $1.5 billion. Deliveries will take place over five years beginning in March 2006.
"Both manufacturers submitted attractive proposals. But we decided that Rolls-Royce had the edge," says SIA Deputy Chairman Cheong Choong Kong.
Source: Flight International
