Rolls-Royce signs £209m deal with Virgin Atlantic

Rolls-Royce signs £209m deal with Virgin Atlantic:

Aero-engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce has signed a 325 million US dollar (£209 million) maintenance deal with Virgin Atlantic.

Rolls will be providing cover for the Trent 500 engines powering Virgin’s new fleet of 10 Airbus A340-600 aircraft through to 2016.

Virgin flies the four-engined A340-600 from London to Newark and JFK airports in New York and plans to use them on services to Hong Kong and Tokyo.

The airline was the launch customer for Rolls’ Trent 500 engine, the sole powerplant used on the Airbus A340-600.

Some 40% of Trent engines currently in service are covered by Rolls-Royce maintenance deals under its Total Care programme.

The programme gives airlines a choice of support services so they can customise the deal to suit their requirements.

Mike Terrett, Rolls-Royce president for civil aerospace, said: “Today’s announcement highlights the continuing trend towards aftermarket services provided at predictable costs through long-term contracts.”

Rolls-Royce has suffered more than most from the fall-out in the aerospace industry since September 11, cutting 5,000 jobs and seeing profits tumble.

It has also been pushed to defend its accounting procedures over the way it recognises revenue generated by the Total Care programme.

But the group, with UK sites in Derby, Bristol and Coventry, has described its recent performance as robust and believes it is poised for growth.
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