Rolls-Royce welcomes Air France-KLM to Trent family

Rolls-Royce, the global power systems company, today welcomed Air France-KLM Group to its family of Trent XWB engine operators, following an announcement of the airline’s intention to select the Airbus A350-900.

Rolls-Royce will now work closely with Air France-KLM Group to finalise an agreement linked to this announcement, which covers up to 60 aircraft, 25 of which are planned to be firm orders in the near term.

Mark King, Rolls-Royce President – Civil Aerospace, said: “This will be the first time we have supplied large engines to Air France-KLM Group and we look forward to building on the positive relationship we have established during the aircraft evaluation process. The Trent XWB test results are already showing it to be the most efficient large aero engine available on the market today.”



1. Rolls-Royce is a world-leading provider of power systems and services for use on land, at sea and in the air, and has established a strong position in global markets - civil aerospace, defence aerospace, marine and energy.
2. As a result of this strategy, Rolls-Royce has a broad customer base comprising more than 500 airlines, 4,000 corporate and utility aircraft and helicopter operators, 160 armed forces, more than 2,500 marine customers, including 70 navies, and energy customers in nearly 120 countries, with an installed base of 54,000 gas turbines.
3. Annual underlying revenues were £10.8 billion in 2010, of which more than half came from the provision of services. The firm and announced order book stood at £61.4 billion at 30 June 2011, providing visibility of future levels of activity.
4. Rolls-Royce employs over 39,000 skilled people in offices, manufacturing and service facilities in over 50 countries. Over 11,000 of these employees are engineers.
5. In 2010, Rolls-Royce invested £923 million on research and development, two thirds of which had the objective of further improving the environmental performance of its products, in particular reducing emissions.
6. Rolls-Royce supports a global network of 28 University Technology Centres, which connect the company’s engineers with the forefront of scientific research.
7. The Group has a strong commitment to apprentice and graduate recruitment and to further developing employee skills.
8. The Trent XWB is currently undergoing certification testing and will take to the air for the first time later this year on an Airbus A380 flying test bed. It is the fastest-selling Trent engine ever, with more than 1,100 sold to 35 customers and is 16 per cent more fuel efficient than the first generation of Trent engines.