Rolls Royce set to supply plane engines

Nov 16 2009 by Rob Pattinson, The Journal

JOB security for hundreds of North East engineering staff was welcomed yesterday as Rolls Royce unveiled a £1.2bn boost to its order book.

The company, which employs 600 workers across the region, announced they had agreed to supply new engines for both Air China and Ethiopian Airlines fleets, at the Dubai Air Show.

While the manufacturing is not set to take place at either their Newcastle or Sunderland sites, a spokesperson for the firm said the “stability” and “security” the deals bring would benefit both locations.

The bulk of the work is expected to take place at Rolls Royce’s Derby plant, but the company hopes as the popularity of its new technologies spreads to sectors based in the North East more work can be secured for those sites. The firm currently employs 400 workers at its Pallion plant, Sunderland, and 200 at its Scotswood Road site in Newcastle.

A spokesperson said: “There is of course a benefit to the Rolls Royce group as a whole, which includes these sites.

“The technology we see coming out of the aerospace sector is something we hope to see cross over into other parts of the Rolls Royce family.

“When you have this sort of success with your orders it can only help to secure the company. It’s all about stability.” Air China, the national flag carrier of China with a fleet of 243 aircraft, has placed an order for the company’s Trent 700 engines to power 20 Airbus A330 aircraft being delivered from 2011.

Rolls said the deal, which includes service support, was worth around £900m.

Ethiopian’s order covers Trent engines for 12 Airbus A350 wide-body planes that will begin service in 2017.

The deal, which is worth £288m, takes sales of the Trent XWB, the fastest-selling Trent engine, past 1,000. Rolls said the engine was the most fuel efficient and environmentally-sensitive large engine design on the market, with fuel efficiency ratings 28% higher than pre-Trent generation engines.

It was reported earlier this year company staff in Sunderland voted overwhelmingly in favour of plans for a new factory.

Staff were told the firm planned to transfer production to a new facility in the North East, with the potential for 50 job losses.

Sunderland workers supported the move despite being told it would involve an extension of their working hours without any increase in pay. The company added that Air China’s order meant its Trent 700 had been selected 14 times by nine customers to power a total of 178 A330s in service or on order.

Rolls’ order book stood at £57.5bn at the end of June, with the aerospace division accounting for around £46.7bn.

Airlines have suffered because of last year’s oil price rises and lower demand and Rolls-Royce said in July that delays on the Airbus A380 and Boeing 787 wide-body programmes had also added to uncertainty.