DAHLEWITZ, Germany—Rolls-Royce has restarted commercial engine activity at its Dahlewitz, Germany, facility by inducting its first Trent 1000 as the British engine manufacturer continues to press ahead with capacity ramp-ups across its aftermarket network.
Located south of Berlin, the facility has been focused primarily on business aircraft engines after ceasing commercial engine activity during the pandemic. Dahlewitz will initially focus on quick-turn maintenance for the Trent 1000, one of two competing engine options for Boeing 787 aircraft. By 2026, Rolls-Royce plans to transition the site to both assemble and test the Trent XWB-84 engine which powers the Airbus A350.
The first Trent 1000 engine induction is a milestone in Rolls-Royce’s plans to bolster its capacity across its global aftermarket network and follows the recent opening of an aftermarket support facility at its home base in Derby, England, which is expected to come online next year and complement its existing overhaul shop there. It also plans to increase engine build capacity by 40% next year in Derby.
In March this year, Rolls-Royce laid out its capacity growth plans by announcing a £55 million ($70 million) investment in additional engine assembly, test and shop visit capacity in both the UK and Germany. The investment includes growth at Derby and at Dahlewitz. Some 300 new staff will be recruited, about a third of whom will be based in Dahlewitz.
Another driver of this stems from the company announcing at the Singapore Airshow in February a £1 billion enhancement package for the Trent 1000, 7000 and XWB engines aimed at increasing durability. “Our job in that equation is to make sure that new technology rolls into our fleet as quickly as possible,” Paul Keenan, director of Global Aftermarket Operations, told Aviation Week. “Our aftermarket facilities, both in Derby and Dahlewitz, are part of that, in addition to other incremental capacity as well.”
Keenan said Rolls-Royce is now looking to grow both the mix and volumes of large engines it services. He estimates that this stands at around 200 to 250 “heavy interventions” at present. In the mid-term, he said the business will look to ready capacity eventually for a much larger volume.
Keenan said Rolls-Royce’s wider network of joint ventures (JV) facilities and authorized service centers will also play an important in achieving this. JVs include the likes of Singapore Aero Engine Services with SIA Engineering Company which plans to increase its volume by 40%, and Hong Kong Aero Engine Services with HAECO. A future JV with Air China—Beijing Aero Engine Services Company—is expected to open in the Chinese capital in 2026.
Another one of its JVs increasing capacity is N3 Engine Overhaul Services, a JV with German MRO giant Lufthansa Technik. Based in Arnstadt in the Thuringia region of central Germany, the MRO is undergoing its own facility expansion and will increase its engine output from 160 to 250 Rolls-Royce engines annually over the next few years.
Keenan said Rolls-Royce will look at potential new additions to its authorized service center network to meet heightened future demand for widebody engine services. He highlighted its agreement signed in 2019 with Abu Dhabi-based Sanad Aerotech as an example of this model, which sees Rolls-Royce certify and grant the MRO the necessary approvals for them to carry out the engine maintenance.
“Next year, I'm looking at more capacity to add to the network,” Keenan said. “The joint venture structure is probably one that we would move to more of an approved maintenance center model, and that’s more the model I think about when I look at growth for mid-term capacity.”
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