Rolls-Royce has unveiled a mammoth £625million deal – just a week after wrapping up contracts worth £1.6billion at the Paris Air Show.
Rolls-Royce has signed an agreement to supply its Trent 700 engines to power 15 Airbus A330 aircraft operated by Singapore Airlines.
The new deal, worth $1billion or £625million, has been hailed as ‘fantastic’ news for the 1,000 workers at its Barnoldswick base, which manufactures fan blades for all Trent engines.
Experts said the news would keep the factory busy for ‘a very long time’.
And it comes on the back of a triumphant showing at last week’s Paris Air Show, when three separate deals worth a combined £1.6billion also helped secure the company’s long-term future in East Lancashire.
Jon Brough, Unite union convenor at Barnoldswick, said: “This is fantastic news, as were the announcements at Paris last week.
“The biggest issue now will be keeping up with demand because this ensures that we remain really busy.
“However, the great thing is it offers a feeling of security, which is fantastic for all the staff here.”
The flurry of orders for Rolls-Royce engines comes after a difficult year for the aerospace giant.
Last November, an engine blow-out in a Trent 900 forced an Airbus A380 superjumbo operated by Australian airline Qantas to make an emergency landing in Singapore.
Rolls revealed earlier this year that the incident cost it £56million.
However, the firm settled a legal dispute over the fault last week as the Paris Air Show was getting underway.
Rolls’ Barnoldswick workers manufacture fan blades for all the company’s Trent, XWB and V2500 engines, which power thousands of aircraft.
Currently, the firm’s East Lancashire base is the only site in the world with that capability, although a sister factory in being built in Singapore to help handle Rolls-Royce’s bumper £60billion order book.
North West Aerospace Alliance chief executive Martin Wright, who was at the Paris Air Show last week, said: “These deals ensure Barnoldswick remains very busy for a long time to come.
“The plant is an important one for Rolls-Royce and also a very strategically important one for the North West’s aerospace sector.
“Clearly, this is very good news for East Lancashire.”
Yesterday’s order from Singapore Airlines represents a vote of confidence in Rolls’ Trent 700, with stiff competition from US engine manufacturers.
Nick Devall, Rolls-Royce’s chief commercial officer for civil aerospace, said: “The Trent 700 has proven itself to be the most efficient engine for the Airbus A330.
“Our continuous investment in the improvement of our products has ensured that the Trent 700 is the clear leader in the market.
“Singapore Airlines has been a great partner and we are delighted to extend this relationship further.”
Rolls-Royce, which has had an East Lancashire presence since 1943, is expected by analysts to double its £11billion sales in the next decade.
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