Sichuan Airlines Selects Rolls-Royce Trent 700 to Power Three Leased A330-200s

Released on Thursday, April 03, 2008

Rolls-Royce announced today that Sichuan Airlines has chosen Trent 700 engines to power its fleet of three leased Airbus A330-200 twinjets from AerCap. The order includes a long term TotalCare® services agreement.

Mr. Lan Xinguo, Chairman of Sichuan Airlines said: "The introduction of new-generation widebody aircraft to our fleet in 2010 will mark another phase in the growth of Sichuan Airlines. The Trent 700 will provide us with the best performance and flexibility for our Airbus A330 operations."

Steve Miller, Vice President Civil Aerospace, China at Rolls-Royce, said: "This order demonstrates Sichuan Airlines' continuing confidence in our products and relationship. We are proud and delighted that the Trent 700 will power Sichuan Airlines' expansion into widebody aircraft, cementing our growing relationship with them, and look forward to working closely to deliver a smooth entry into service for the A330."

The Trent 700, market leader on the A330 with a 53 per cent market share, delivers outstanding levels of performance and the highest available thrust on the A330, resulting in increased operational flexibility. Latest technologies fed into the engine as a performance improvement package have delivered better fuel burn, which translates into lower emissions.

Sichuan Airlines is the 53rd customer or operator to select the Trent 700 for the A330 and will take delivery of its first aircraft in 2010.

Sichuan Airlines currently operates a fleet of 40 Airbus A320 family aircraft equipped with V2500 engines and five Embraer 145s powered by Rolls-Royce AE3007 engines. The V2500 is produced by the International Aero Engines consortium in which Rolls-Royce is a leading shareholder.