Rolls-Royce

The recent completion of European certification of Rolls-Royce’s Trent XWB not only boosted Airbus’s efforts to fly its new A350XWB widebody in the first half of this year, it freed the UK-based engine maker to turn its attention to the Trent XWB-97 turbofan, designed to power the longer-range A350-1000 (the standard 84,000-pound-thrust Trent XWB powers the -800 and -900 versions).

Bombardier signed an engine service agreement with Rolls-Royce that authorizes the airframer’s service centers in Dallas, Tucson, Ariz., Hartford, Conn. and Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to perform maintenance on the BR710 engine that powers the Global Express/XRS/5000/6000. Under the agreement, Bombardier’s service centers can perform line maintenance and engine removals on the engines, which will be sent to Rolls-Royce for heavy maintenance.

Sir Ralph Robins, formerly executive chairman of Rolls-Royce, has joined the board of Gama Group as a non-executive chairman. “This comes at a time of significant expansion and I am very much looking forward to working with him,” said Marwan Khalek, CEO of Gama Group. “Sir Ralph’s unique blend of aerospace, international business, corporate governance experience and know-how will ensure that we deliver even better value to our customers, employees and investors.”

Aviall Services has entered into an exclusive distribution agreement with Rolls-Royce for parts, modules and tooling for the RR300 turboshaft used on the Robinson R66. Deliveries of the R66 have already passed the 150 mark; the helicopter manufacturer expects deliveries to peak at several hundred per year, with annual flight hours reaching nearly 900,000 by 2020.