Rolls-Royce To Invest In UK, Germany Trent Engine Capacity

Rolls-Royce has confirmed plans to invest in additional engine assembly, test and shop visit capacity at sites in the UK and Germany as part of efforts to meet growing demand for Trent engine services.

The British engine manufacturer announced its plans to invest in its network capacity to the tune of £55 million ($70.1 million) on March 15. The investment will focus on two sites: first, at its headquarters in Derby in the UK’s East Midlands region and, second, at its facility in Dahlewitz located south of Berlin.

In Derby, Rolls-Royce is targeting growth of its engine build capacity. It is aiming to deliver over 40% more new engines annually from 2025 compared to average deliveries over the last 10 years. It also plans to increase services capacity for its Trent engines, which are set to generate high demand over the next decade, particularly from operators in Asia-Pacific and Western Europe, according to Aviation Week Intelligence Network’s Commercial Aviation 2024 Fleet & MRO Forecast.

At its site in Germany, which has operated since 1995, Rolls-Royce says it is targeting the utilization of existing engine test capability for civil large engines to support near-term services demand. From 2026, it will transition to the assembly and testing of Trent XWB-84 engines, one of two Trent XWB powerplant options for Airbus A350 family aircraft.

Capacity ramp-ups will lead to the creation of around 300 new jobs in “front-line operations” roles, says Rolls. The engine maker says around half of the investment and about two thirds of the jobs set to be created will be based in Derby.

The investment plan comes after the OEM’s announcement in February that it intends to invest around £1 billion ($1.27 billion) in a continuous improvement program for the Trent engine series. The multi-year investment is targeting the increase of time on-wing for Trent XWB-97 engines on A350-1000 aircraft by as much as 50%. The investment follows durability concerns previously expressed by Dubai-based airline Emirates, which operates Rolls-Royce engines in harsh environments.

Last month during its annual earnings call, Rolls-Royce CEO Tufan Erginbilgic stated the investments would focus on developing new blade coatings for the engine’s high pressure turbine blades.

Rolls-Royce has previously projected increased demand for its Trent engines. Last November at its annual Capital Markets Day, the company projected an annual increase of between 7-9% of Rolls-Royce powered aircraft in service for the remainder of the decade. In 2024, Rolls-Royce expects to deliver between 500-550 engines in total, with around half of those expected to be civil widebody powerplants.

Aviation Week data projects approximately 792 engine overhaul events on Rolls-Royce Trent engines this year.