Emirates has reportedly agreed to accept delivery of Rolls-Royce engines for its A380s jets after performance and maintenance issues were addressed.
The Gulf airline has struck a deal with Rolls-Royce after the manufacturer agreed to cover the cost of steps required to improve the engines’ performance, Bloomberg said on Wednesday.
Emirates president Tim Clark said last month there were technical issues with the engines, although he declined to specify what was wrong with them.
“We want the engines as prescribed in the contract,” Clark said during a meeting with journalists in Berlin.
Clark revealed this week that the issue involved a “higher intervention rate” in maintaining Rolls-Royce engines, due in part to unanticipated levels of wear to fan blades due to Dubai’s desert climate, Bloomberg reported.
Emirates will now take the first double-decker A380 with Rolls-Royce’s Trent 900 engines from the manufacturer on December 16, two weeks later than planned, Clark told reporters in London.
“There were some issues on performance, but we’ve come to a satisfactory conclusion,” he was quoted as saying. “Rolls are taking care of everything, so we are neutral to the repercussions.”
The two parties are working to get the A380s into service, it was reported.
During the same event at the Aviation Club in London this week, Clark said Emirates is evaluating new A350s and 787s for delivery around 2021-22, later than has been previously been said.
“We will be reviewing fleet requirements, not quite as urgently as we have done in the past,” he said, according to ATW Online. Clark was referring to softer air demand globally as a result of challenging economic conditions.
However, he added: “The 787 and A350 are very much in the frame. Obviously, they are smaller than the aircraft we have today, but they are very good workhorses and something that we will be requiring for probably in 2021, 2022 something like that.”
Follow us on
