Rolls-Royce said plans for three new factories in South Yorkshire would not be affected by its decision to base new engine testing plants overseas.

The Derby-based company is undertaking a feasibility study into setting up testing plants in Germany and the US.

A spokesman told the Yorkshire Post yesterday that the decision would not have any impact on its plans to build three factories on the Advanced Manufacturing Park in Rotherham, which were submitted last week.
The development is expected to create 350 jobs in South Yorkshire.
One factory would be used to make turbine blades for jet engines, while a second would manufacture components for power stations. The third building could house one of the company’s suppliers.

Rolls-Royce revealed plans to extend its manufacturing capacity in the UK with new facilities two years ago, later choosing the Advanced Manufacturing Park as its preferred location.
The company already has a presence at the AMP Technology Centre, is a partner at Sheffield University’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre and will play a role in the new Nuclear AMRC.

The Advanced Manufacturing Park is set to become part of the Sheffield City Region’s new enterprise zone.

Derby is Rolls-Royce’s biggest engine site, employing 11,000 staff.

Aircraft engine maker Rolls-Royce has reported an increase in profits due to a rise in commercial engine sales.
Underlying profits before tax rose 28% in the first half of this year to £595m, which was better than analysts had predicted.
Revenues from sales on engines for civil aircraft increased 14% and Rolls Royce announced £8.7bn of new orders.

It brings its total order book to £61.4bn - an all time high for the world's second largest engine maker.
'Good growth' International air traffic has increased by 8% so far this year according to the industry body IATA, driving demand for new planes and engines.
Rolls-Royce is the second largest manufacturer of aircraft engines in the world - after General Electric in the US.
The rise to orders also includes new business in its defence, marine and energy divisions.
"For the full year, we continue to expect good growth in underlying profit," said chief executive John Rishton.

On Monday, the European Commission cleared a planned take-over by Rolls-Royce and Daimler of German diesel engine maker Tognum.
Last month, Australian carrier Qantas agreed a settlement with Rolls-Royce over a mid-air blast incident and the grounding of the Qantas fleet of A380 superjumbos. Rolls-Royce will pay 95m Australian dollars ($100m; £62m).
Despite the incident the engine maker announced an order from Asiana Airlines to supply six A380 superjumbos with the same Trent 900 engine.
Taking into account profits or losses from £21bn worth of hedges on currency, interest rates and jet fuel in its full results, Rolls Royce's profit before tax for the six month period was £1.1bn.

SOURCE

ROLLS-ROYCE – the global integrated aerospace, defence and energy firm – has seen a series of transformations over the years.
 
Its businesses range from gas turbine engines – for military planes and civil airlines, corporate jets and helicopters – to water jets.
Rolls-Royce also builds and tests nuclear devices for the Royal Navy and its energy activities provide power to oil and gas-specific platforms. Recently, along with Daimler AG, it secured a majority interest in Germany’s Tognum, a high-speed diesel engine-maker.
Solid annual figures earlier this year were driven by defence, which was up 22 per cent. In the commercial airline aftermarket, growth was ahead of expectations.
For 2011, management has forecast revenue growth mainly from civil aerospace (with profits expected to increase by 25 per cent) and energy (with profits expected to double).

Some readers may recall the negative media coverage last November when a Qantas Airbus A380 experienced an engine explosion on a Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engine. The company recorded a charge of £56million in its recent results for the cost of the incident and settlements to customers and we believe this should ease investor concern.

The current Trent 900 model still enjoys popularity with airlines ordering Airbus 380s and we remain upbeat about the group’s exposure to increasing global air traffic.
There are a number of risks that exist for Rolls-Royce, most notably any slowdown in global growth which would impact demand for commercial aircraft and business jets. Contract delays, or ineffective currency hedging, could also weigh on financials. As a military equipment provider, Rolls-Royce can be affected by changes in governmental procurement policies.

The incident involved a Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engine, powering a Qantas A380 Airbus aircraft. No one was injured, and the plane landed safely with 466 passengers and crew onboard. The incident led to safety concerns about the Rolls-Royce engine and highlighted Qantas’s safety record, temporarily forced its entire fleet of A380s aircraft to be grounded.

After an investigation conducted by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB), the cause of the incident was found to be a manufacturing defect in an oil pipe, which led to a leak and caused a fire and subsequently an explosion in one of the engines.

Qantas boss Alan Joyce said in a statement on Wednesday June 23: “Considering the challenges facing the aviation industry, this is a very good result – the Qantas Group’s best since the global financial crisis.”

However, Joyce said that Qantas International is forecast to generate a loss before interest and tax of approximately AU$200m, on invested capital of more than AU$5bn, with a worse result expected next year.

"Qantas International is the group's weakest business – it has achieved required returns only three times in the past 15 years. Clearly the situation is not sustainable," he admitted. "However, we are developing a long-term strategy aimed at restoring competitiveness and profitability."

The announcement came as part of the airline's disclosure of a forecast profit before tax of AU$500m-AU$550m for the year ending June 30th. Qantas reported a profit before tax of AU$417m for the half-year to December 31st, 2010.

Manufacturing News, Source : TheManufacturer.com
Published : 24 Jun 2011

Rolls-Royce has concluded a contract worth up to $2.2bn (£1.4bn) with TAM Airlines of Brazil, to provide Trent XWB engines for 27 Airbus A350-XWB aircraft.

The order, which is TAM’s first with Rolls-Royce, includes a 12-year agreement for TotalCare long-term services support.
Specifically designed for the Airbus A350-XWB, the Trent XWB is the fastest selling Rolls-Royce Trent engine and claimed to offer 28 per cent better fuel efficiency than pre-Trent generation engines.

More than 1,100 Trent XWB engines have been sold to 36 customers, with current orders extending beyond 2020.


Read more:

The news is expected to be confirmed during the "Paris Air Show " about Rolls Royce will develop a new version of the Trent XWB engine for Airbus A-350/1000 aircraft specifically, that will allow the manufacturer to expand the plane, increase the weight and consequently its marketability. 

Sources close to the top advised that planned changes to strengthen the Trent engines will increase the thrust from 93.000lb to 98.000lb; experts say this type of project involves the redesign of the core, for an estimated investment of 250 million dollars.
Already some airlines have been shown to be involved in the ability to use aircraft more capacious and powerful (also with regard to payload capacity) and push to increase the competitiveness of Airbus twin-engine turbofan compared to rival Boeing. 

The success of Rolls Royce will also confirms its partnership with Airbus, which would not be so concerned to seek a second supplier for the engines, in this case, General Electric, which currently has an agreement with Boeing for B-777, and would make the British industry the leading candidate for each update of new giants of the air's engine. 
(Avionews)
(00500)

Rolls-Royce is set to build a new engine to beef up the A350 jetliner being developed by Airbus in a costly rethink of strategy for Europe's most ambitious new plane project, industry sources said on Monday.
Airlines have criticized the planemaker's one-size-fits-all policy that would see the mid-sized A350 built in three separate models all using the same engine, the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB.
Until now, Airbus and Rolls have defended the engine as an all-rounder capable of powering twinjet A350 planes carrying 270 to 350 people, competing with two different types of planes manufactured by rival Boeing.

But the range needed from one type of engine became daunting as airlines called for more thrust for the largest A350-1000, allowing it to fly further with more weight.
"My understanding is that Rolls-Royce has agreed to build a new engine," the chief executive of a major A350 customer told Reuters at an airline industry event.
A spokesman for Airbus declined comment. A spokesman for Rolls-Royce in Singapore was not available for comment.

A new engine typically costs up to $2 billion to develop, according to engine industry executives.
An industry source familiar with the project told Reuters in November that Rolls was looking at two variants of the same engine, which would be less costly than building from scratch.
But it remained unclear how many components would be shared between old and new models or who would pay for the upgrade.

The head of a second customer airline said he was awaiting details of the changes to the A350, but noted Airbus needed to juggle several variables to get the technical ingredients right.
One of the world's most influential aircraft buyers, leasing magnate Steven Udvar-Hazy, said he expected Airbus to modify its plans for the A350 and that this could lead to delays.
"They have to address payload, range and runway performance," the chief executive of Air Lease Corp told Reuters.

777 CHALLENGE
Airbus last week reaffirmed plans to deliver the first A350 to be produced, the 314-seat A350-900, in late 2013. It did not address the delivery schedule for the other models, the 270-seat A350-800 and the 350-seat A350-1000.
Airbus last month canceled a media briefing on the A350 and said it would issue an update at the Paris Air Show in June. The aircraft has undergone numerous design changes in its history.
The Trent XWB is the latest and physically largest member of the Rolls engine family which powers the world's biggest jets.
With a fan wider than Concorde's fuselage and built to devour more than a tonne of air every second, the engine claims to be among the most powerful and flexible in civil aviation.

But engines are designed to work most efficiently in a certain band of thrust and critics have said the Trent XWB would find it difficult to operate efficiently across all three types of A350, even before the A350-1000 is beefed up.
First indications of a change in strategy were disclosed by industry sources in November. The final decision could set the tone for the engine market in the next decade, with implications for the rivalry between Airbus and Boeing.
Airlines say a beefed-up A350-1000 would be better able to compete with the Boeing 777 mini-jumbo, one of Boeing's most successful models, while the smaller A350-800 and A350-900 aim to tackle the 787 Dreamliner, due to enter service this year.
Rolls' rival General Electric is the monopoly supplier on the current key 777 model, the Boeing 777-300ER.
Tim Hepher Reuters June 6, 2011

Australia's biggest carrier Qantas Airways Ltd. (QAN.AU)replaced 24 engines on its fleet of Airbus A380 superjumbos after one of them last year suffered a midair engine explosion near Singapore, its chief executive said Monday.

The A380 damaged in November's incident is expected to return to service by February after repairs costing A$100 million are completed, Alan Joyce said in Singapore on the sidelines of an International Air Transport Association event.

The repair costs will be borne by insurance, while Qantas' other aircraft are flying normally, he said.
Joyce's comments follow a Australian Transport Safety Bureau report last month that said a manufacturing defect in the pipes of a Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engine had led to the engine explosion which forced the Sydney-bound Qantas A380 to make an emergency landing in Singapore.
Qantas had temporarily grounded all its A380 planes after the incident.

Asked about plans by rival Singapore Airlines Ltd. (C6L.SG) to start a short- and long-haul low fare airline, Joyce said: "Imitation is the best form of flattery."
The proposed Singapore Airlines low-fare unit is expected to compete with Jetstar, a unit of Qantas and Malaysia's AirAsia X, which is owned by AirAsia Bhd
By Gaurav Raghuvanshi

Norwegian has entered into an agreement involving the right to purchase three Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners, with two aircraft being delivered during the first half of 2013 and one aircraft in early 2015. Norwegian is negotiating for further aircraft of the type. All aircraft will be equipped with Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines.“Getting hold of an additional three Dreamliners imply that we have secured sufficient capacity for the launch of the long-haul operation. We will operate a fleet of at least four of the most efficient and modern long-haul aircraft already by summer 2013,” said CEO Bjorn Kjos at Norwegian.

“The Dreamliner is the most cost efficient aircraft type of its size with considerably lower operating costs than competing aircraft types, making low-cost journeys to distant destinations a reality. A primary driver for the low costs is fuel efficiency, which also makes the Dreamliner the most environmentally friendly option. The emissions are as much as 20 % lower than comparable aircraft,” said Kjos.

As with the existing short-haul operation, Norwegian will offer low-fare, non-stop long-haul routes to avoid expensive and time consuming stopovers. The size of the Dreamliner is a perfect match for the Scandinavian market. Combined with longer range, higher speed and substantially lower operating costs, routes previously not feasible as a non-stop alternative from Scandinavia will be a reality with Norwegian’s Dreamliner operation.

In November 2010 Norwegian entered into a leasing agreement with ILFC for the delivery of two 787-8 Dreamliners during fall 2012/ winter 2013. After today’s contract signing Norwegian will have five Dreamliners in its fleet. Negotiations for further aircraft continue.

Norwegian Air Shuttle said Thursday it signed a letter of intent with Icelandair to acquire three Rolls-Royce Trent 1000-powered Boeing 787-8s that Icelandair currently has on order.

Two of the aircraft are expected to be delivered during the first half of 2013 and the third in early 2015. Norwegian is also slated to receive two 787-8s on lease from ILFC in late 2012/early 2013 (ATW Daily News, Nov. 9, 2010).  

"Getting hold of an additional three Dreamliners implies that we have secured sufficient capacity for the launch of the long-haul operation," said CEO Bjorn Kjos. "We will operate a fleet of at least four of the most efficient and modern long-haul aircraft by summer 2013." The carrier is believed to be negotiating to acquire additional 787s.
By Kurt Hofmann | May 27, 2011
http://atwonline.com/