Rolls-Royce has signed a TotalCare service agreement with Ethiopian Airlines for Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97 engines that will power four new Airbus A350-1000 aircraft. The announcement was made this week.
The agreement will provide the airline with predictability as well as a known cost for the services and maintenance.
TotalCare is designed to provide operational certainty for customers by transferring time on wing and maintenance cost risk back to Rolls-Royce. This industry-leading premium service offering is supported by data delivered through the Rolls-Royce advanced engine health monitoring system, which helps provide customers with increased operational availability, reliability and efficiency.
The Trent XWB is the most efficient large aero engine in service today and the Trent XWB-84 already powers 20 Ethiopian Airlines A350-900 aircraft in service.
The contract was signed during a visit by the airline to Rolls-Royce’s Civil Aerospace headquarters in Derby, UK. Ethiopian Airlines is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its first flight to the UK in April 1973.
Ewen McDonald, Chief Customer Officer, Rolls-Royce, said: “We are delighted to sign this long-term service agreement with Ethiopian Airlines for their Trent XWB-97-powered Airbus A350-1000 aircraft. Ethiopian Airlines has led the way in Africa as the first operator of the A350-900 and will be the first to introduce the A350-1000 in service. We look forward to providing a TotalCare service that maximises performance for both the Trent XWB-84 and Trent XWB-97.”
Mesfin Tasew, Chief Executive Officer, Ethiopian Airlines, said: “We value the strong relationship we have built over the years with Rolls-Royce, and as we celebrate 50 years of flights to the UK, we continue to look forward to the implementation of this TotalCare agreement for the latest addition to our fleet with the introduction of the modern A350-1000 aircraft.
“We have experience of using the Rolls-Royce TotalCare service to ensure Trent 1000 and Trent XWB-84 engine availability and reliability and we are pleased to extend this service to the Trent XWB-97 model, which powers the A350-1000 aircraft.”
In addition to powering the A350-900 and A350-1000 aircraft, the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 also powers 10 Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 787 Dreamliners, all supported by TotalCare.
Rolls-Royce develops complex power and propulsion solutions for safety-critical applications in the air, at sea and on land. It has customers in more than 150 countries, comprising more than 400 airlines and leasing customers, 160 armed forces and navies, and more than 5,000 power and nuclear customers.
