Rolls-Royce Trent 900 powers Singapore Airlines’ first A380 flight to London Heathrow

Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines today powered the first scheduled service of a Singapore Airlines’ Airbus A380 from Changi Airport, Singapore to London Heathrow.

Although the Trent 900 is the largest and one of the most powerful engines produced by Rolls-Royce, it is the quietest and cleanest engine for the A380.

Nick Devall, Executive Vice President, Customer Business, at Rolls-Royce, who was among the passengers, said the flight represented another historic landmark in the relationship with Singapore Airlines.

“The Trent 900 has established a benchmark for low noise and emissions and today’s flight demonstrated how the engine and airframe combination operates well within the stringent noise limits for airports such as Heathrow.

“Its performance in combination with the A380 will become even more widely appreciated as in-service experience grows. Singapore Airlines is once again leading by example and continuing to enhance its reputation as a pacesetter for the aviation industry,” he added.

Singapore Airlines has placed firm orders for 19 A380s, all powered by the Trent 900. The first aircraft began scheduled services between Singapore and Sydney in October last year.

In addition to the A380s, the airline currently operates a fleet of 63 Rolls-Royce powered aircraft comprising 58 Boeing 777s and five A340-500s fitted with Trent 800 and Trent 500 engines respectively.


Notes to Editors:

1.

Nine of the 12 operators who have made engine selections on their A380s have chosen the Trent 900, resulting in a market-leading 57 per cent share of firm and option orders.
2.

During engine development, Trent 900s logged around 14,000 flying hours on four A380s over a 30-month programme. In ground running and flight tests, the engine completed over 37,000 cycles - equivalent to over 14 years of operation on one aircraft.
3.

The first run of the Trent 900 took place on schedule in March 2003 and the engine was certificated to plan in October 2004. The first flight of the A380 took place in April 2005.
4.

The Trent 900 has been developed with partners around the world. Seven companies are participating as risk and revenue-sharing partners: Industria de Turbo Propulsores (ITP) of Spain, Hamilton Sundstrand, Goodrich and Honeywell of the United States, Avio of Italy, Volvo Aero of Sweden, and Marubeni of Japan. In addition, Samsung Techwin of South Korea, and Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) and Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries (IHI) of Japan are programme associates.
5.

Rolls-Royce is also providing the launch engine for the Boeing 787 with the Trent 1000, and the Airbus A350 XWB with the Trent XWB.

Trent 900 Wow Facts

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At take-off, the A380’s four Trents are delivering thrust equivalent to the power of more than 3,500 family cars.
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Each of the 70 high pressure turbine blades in a Trent 900 produces about 900hp (670 kw)….more power than a Formula One racing car.
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If you applied the high-pressure turbine blade cooling technology to an ice cube, you could put it in an oven at 200°C and it would never melt.
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The 116-inch fan operates at nearly 3,000rpm which means the blade tips are travelling at about 1,000mph (1,600 km/h) or about 1.3 times the speed of sound.