Contracts Worth Total Of $15.1 Billion

It's good to be Rolls-Royce right now. The company confirmed Friday it secured business worth a total of $15.1 billion at the Paris Air Show.

On the eve of the show, the company was selected to power the C-27J transport aircraft for the US armed forces, and also signed an agreement to develop a new corporate jet engine for Dassault. During the air show, commitments were announced for 728 engines on a total of 355 aircraft.

New customers were announced in Latin America and Russia, joining those from the Middle East, Asia, Europe and America who also placed orders.

Rolls-Royce provides engines for more than 30 types of civil aircraft, and its products are in service with 41 of the world’s top 50 airlines and cargo carriers and 160 armed forces.

"The breadth and balance of the portfolio enables Rolls-Royce to develop new products and services at lower cost and lower risk, and to satisfy a wide range of customer requirements," said Sir John Rose, Chief Executive of Rolls-Royce. "We are able to apply advances in technology across our portfolio, and continuously improve the environmental impact of our products. Our portfolio also creates a more robust business by ensuring that the Group is not over-dependent on the success of any one sector or program. The benefits of this portfolio approach have been illustrated by the success which Rolls-Royce has enjoyed at the Paris air show.

Rolls-Royce further broadened its portfolio by signing an agreement with Dassault Aviation to provide a new engine for the next-generation Falcon business jet. This is the first time Rolls-Royce has partnered with Dassault in this sector.

Four versions of the company’s high-thrust Trent engine series were ordered during the air show by 17 airlines, freight carriers and leasing companies. Rolls-Royce won commitments for 508 Trent engines on the latest Airbus and Boeing aircraft. The Trent order backlog has increased by 40 percent as a result of this week’s announcements, taking commitments for the Trent family to 3,200 engines, of which over 1,400 have been delivered.

Rolls-Royce now has the biggest market share -- 47 percent -- of engines for modern widebodied aircraft. The Trent 900 and Trent 1000 hold launch positions on the A380 and Boeing 787 respectively, while the Trent 500 is the sole engine for latest versions of the A340. The sixth member of the family, the Trent XWB, is currently the only engine offered on the new A350 XWB twinjet.

The Trent XWB was the subject of the Group’s largest-ever single order -- worth $5.6 billion including a long-term TotalCare aftermarket agreement -- from Qatar Airways. In addition, the A350 XWB received a total of 141 firm orders from five customers during the show, including Aeroflot, Singapore Airlines and lessors Alafco and CIT.

Airbus received commitments for 52 aircraft from four additional customers -- US Airways, Kingfisher, Libyan Airlines and Afriqiyah. Orders for the A340-500 and –600 from Etihad and Kingfisher resulted in business for the Trent 500.

FMI: www.rolls-royce.com