Engines, Service Contract Total $700 Million

Rolls-Royce has been selected by Airbus to provide Trent 700 engines and long-term TotalCare engine service support, worth $700 million for five new Beluga XL air transporter aircraft.

The aircraft will replace the current Airbus Beluga fleet, which is powered by engines from another provider.

The Beluga XL, based on the A330 design, was launched in November 2014 to address the A350 XWB ramp up and the transport capacity requirements for other programmes. Compared to the current Beluga, the Beluga XL will provide Airbus with an additional 30 per cent air transport capacity.

, said: "We look forward to the Trent 700 powering this important development in our air transport strategy," said Bertrand George, Airbus Senior Vice-President, Head of Beluga XL programs. "The engine has an excellent record on the A330 and is ideally suited to our requirements for this aircraft."

"We welcome this decision to select an engine that is the clear market leader on the A330 and offers outstanding performance in terms of fuel burn, reliability, emissions and noise," said Simon Carlisle, Rolls-Royce, Executive Vice President, Strategy and Future Programs – Civil Large Engines, in a news release.

(Image provided by Airbus)

FMI: www.rolls-royce.com