Rolls-Royce aims to begin Trent engine assemblies at its new facility in Singapore's Seletar Aerospace Park in mid-2012, and expects it to produce up to 250 powerplants a year.
The engine assembly and test facility, which will produce Trent 900s, Trent 1000s and Trent XWBs, was first announced by Rolls-Royce in 2007. It is the first such facility outside the UK.
Rolls-Royce estimates that the Singapore plant will meet half of the engine manufacturer's annual engine demand, with its existing facility at Derby producing another 250 engines a year.
Another Rolls-Royce factory in Seletar, which will produce wide chord fan blades for the three engines, will also begin operations in mid-2012.
This will manufacture 6,000 blades a year, says Rolls-Royce's chief operating officer for its Singapore aerospace division John Horsburgh. It could eventually produce up to 9,000 blades a year by 2018.
Rolls-Royce has said it was investing more than S$700 million ($550.5 million) in the Seletar facility, which would create 500 new jobs.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
