22 December 2014

ROLLS-ROYCE JOINS AIRBUS AND QATAR AIRWAYS
TO CELEBRATE DELIVERY OF FIRST A350 XWB

Rolls-Royce today joined Airbus and Qatar Airways in celebrating delivery of the first Airbus A350 XWB to enter service, powered by Trent XWB engines.

His Excellency, Akbar Al Baker, Qatar Airways, Group Chief Executive Officer, Fabrice Brégier, Airbus, President and Chief Executive, and Tony Wood, Rolls-Royce, President - Aerospace, attended a formal aircraft handover ceremony at Airbus headquarters in Toulouse, France.

The Trent XWB, the sole power plant available for the Airbus A350 XWB, is the world's most efficient large civil aero engine. More than 1,500 engines have already been sold to 40 customers and sales of the Trent XWB account for over half of the Rolls-Royce civil aerospace order book. The engine is expected to be in service for many years, creating an annuity of aftermarket services that will generate revenues for decades to come.

The A350 XWB delivers a 25 per cent fuel burn improvement compared to previous generation aircraft. The Trent XWB is also one of the quietest engines that Rolls-Royce has ever produced for the wide-body market.

The engine is the result of years of research and development and advanced engineering of more than 20,000 parts. It has been tested to extremes of performance on the ground and in the air around the world. It is the sixth member the Trent engine family which, along with the RB211, has built a reputation for excellence over four decades.

His Excellency Akbar Al Baker said: "As the global launch customer, we are pleased to take delivery of the first Airbus A350 XWB aircraft today. We look forward to working closely with Rolls-Royce to ensure that we provide our customers with a truly five-star service from day one."

Fabrice Brégier said: "This is a great moment for Airbus and I would like to thank Rolls-Royce for its commitment to deliver these next generation, fuel-efficient and quiet Trent XWB engines that contribute to meeting our customers' expectations for a truly world-class aircraft that represents innovation at its best and destined to shape the future of air travel."

John Rishton, Rolls-Royce, Chief Executive Officer, said: "We are very proud to have worked with Qatar Airways and Airbus to produce the A350 XWB, using the latest technology to deliver new standards in customer service. This is a very important day for everyone at Rolls-Royce. It is the culmination of years of hard work and the start of a new chapter for our business."

Qatar Airways has ordered 80 A350 XWBs (43 A350-900s and 37 A350-1000s) and is scheduled to take delivery of eight of the aircraft by the end of 2015.

The aircraft will enter daily commercial service with Qatar Airways, flying from Hamad International Airport, Doha, to Frankfurt International Airport, Germany, from January 2015.

Trent XWB - incredible engineering by numbers:

·    The front fan is nearly 10ft feet across - its diameter is larger than the fuselage of Concorde

·    It sucks in up to 1.3 tonnes of air, the equivalent of a squash court, every second at take-off.

·    The force on a fan blade at take-off is equivalent to a load of almost 90 tons, the same as nine London buses hanging off each blade.

·    High pressure turbine blades inside the engine rotate at 12,500 rpm, with their tips reaching 1,200mph - twice the speed of sound.

·    At take off each of the engine's 68 high pressure turbine blades generates around 900 horsepower per blade - the equivalent to that of a Formula One racing car.

·    At full power, air leaves the nozzle at the back of the engine travelling at almost 1000mph.

High-res photographs are available at:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/rolls-royceplc/sets/72157644914196343/

Library broadcast-quality footage of Trent XWB production and testing plus interviews with Rolls-Royce executives on the importance of the engine to the company, are available at: http://www.imageresourcemedia.com/broadcast/streaming_site/pages/Trent_XWB.htm

About Rolls-Royce Holdings plc

1.   Rolls-Royce's vision is to create better power for a changing world via two main business segments, Aerospace and Land & Sea. These business segments address markets with two strong technology platforms, gas turbines and reciprocating engines. Aerospace comprises Civil Aerospace and Defence Aerospace. Land & Sea comprises Marine, Nuclear and Power Systems.

2.   Rolls-Royce has customers in more than 120 countries, comprising more than 380 airlines and leasing customers, 160 armed forces, 4,000 marine customers, including 70 navies, and 1,200 power and nuclear customers.

3.   Our business is focused on the 4Cs:

·     Customer - placing the customer at the heart of our business

·     Concentration - deciding where to grow and where not to

·     Cost - continually looking to increase efficiency

·     Cash - improving financial performance.

4.   Annual underlying revenue was £15.5 billion in 2013, around half of which came from the provision of aftermarket services. The firm and announced order book stood at £70.4 billion at 30 June 2014.

5.   In 2013, Rolls-Royce invested £1.1 billion on research and development. We also support a global network of 31 University Technology Centres, which position Rolls-Royce engineers at the forefront of scientific research.

6.   Rolls-Royce employs over 55,000 people in 45 countries. Over 17,000 of these are engineers. The Energy businesses transferred to Siemens in December 2014 have just under 2,100 permanent employees.

7.   The Group has a strong commitment to apprentice and graduate recruitment and to further developing employee skills. In 2013 we employed 379 graduates and 288 apprentices through our worldwide training programmes. Globally we have over 1,000 Rolls-Royce STEM ambassadors who are actively involved in education programmes and activities; we have set ourselves a target to reach 6 million people through our STEM outreach activities by 2020.

For further information, please contact:

Investors:                                                                             

Jilinda Crowley                                                                       

Acting Director - Investor Relations                                       

Rolls-Royce plc                                                                     

Tel: +44 (0)20 7227 9282                                                      

jilinda.crowley@rolls-royce.com 

Media:

Richard Wray

Director of External Communications

Rolls-Royce plc

Tel:      +44 (0)20 7227 9163

Mobile +44 (0)7974 918 416

Email:  richard.wray@rolls-royce.com

www.Rolls-Royce.com