Qatar Airways selects Rolls-Royce TotalCare® for A340 trent fleet

Tuesday, 15 July 2008

Qatar Airways has signed a long-term TotalCare® agreement to support its fleet of four Rolls-Royce Trent 500-powered Airbus A340-600s and one VIP-configured Airbus A340-500.

Mr Akbar Al-Baker, Chief Executive Officer of Qatar Airways, said: “The Trent 500 has proven itself since entering service and the level of support offered by Rolls-Royce through its TotalCare package will only further enhance our operations.”

Phil Harris, Senior Vice President – Airlines, Rolls-Royce, said: “We are delighted to extend our successful partnership with Qatar Airways and, with the signing of this TotalCare agreement, be in a position to provide five-star service support to one of the world’s Five Star airlines.”

Qatar Airways announced an order for 80 Airbus A350 XWB aircraft, all powered by the Trent XWB, in June 2007. The airline will take 20 A350-800s, 40 A350-900s and 20 of the largest family variant, the A350-1000. A single version of the Trent XWB, currently the only engine available for the A350XWB, will be capable of powering all aircraft in the series.

The airline also operates a fleet of V2500-powered Airbus A320 family aircraft. The V2500 is produced by the International Aero Engines consortium, of which Rolls-Royce is a major shareholder.

Rolls-Royce is also working with Qatar Airways, Qatar Petroleum, Qatar Fuel Company, Airbus, Shell International Petroleum Company limited and the Qatar Science and Technology Park to research the benefits of using Gas to Liquid (GTL) synthetic jet fuels.

Qatar Airways aims to be the first commercial airline in the world to operate flights using gas-to-liquids kerosene fuel – seen by Qatar Airways as the technology of the future, that will help to reduce significantly carbon emissions and the impact of climate change.

Notes to editors:

Revenue from aftermarket services comprises 63 per cent of Rolls-Royce Civil Aerospace revenues. Today more than 55 per cent of the company’s modern jet engine fleet is covered by TotalCare® or CorporateCare® service agreements. With around 80 per cent of civil engine orders announced by Rolls-Royce in the last 18 months incorporating service arrangements, the proportion of fleet coverage will continue to rise, giving increased visibility of revenues.
The company’s services activity continues to expand and is valued highly by its civil aviation customers. Service agreements broaden the opportunity to increase aftermarket revenues, which in turn provide considerable visibility of earnings into the future.
TotalCare®, tailored for individual operators, offers a range of services from Rolls-Royce covering all aspects of asset management in support of its Civil Aerospace products. Building on the company’s knowledge, experience and infrastructure, these services include elements such as predictive maintenance, logistics management, and global repair and overhaul offerings. TotalCare® can remove uncertainties from engine management and improve operational reliability for operators through a mutually aligned business relationship. Since 2001, 80 per cent of new Trent orders have included TotalCare®.
The Trent 500, with thrusts ranging from 53,000lb to 56,000lb, is the sole powerplant on growth versions of the four-engined A340, which began commercial operations in 2002.
Qatar Airways is one of only five airlines in the world with a Five Star ranking for service and excellence awarded by Skytrax, the independent aviation industry monitoring agency.
The Qatar Science and Technology Park, in which Rolls-Royce is also involved, is participating in the synthetic fuel study.
In the energy sector, the Dolphin gas-pipeline project launched the Industrial Trent gas turbines. The five industrial engines derived from our Trent aero-engine family will pump 3.5 billion cu. ft of gas per day through 370 kilometres of pipeline from Qatar. Rolls-Royce has 400 industrial gas turbines in the Middle East.

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