Rolls-Royce has reached a major milestone with the Trent XWB engines, having now delivered 1,000 to airlines around the world.

Chris Cholerton, Rolls-Royce Civil Aerospace president, said: “Approximately 60% of the installed Trent engine deliveries to our customers in 2020 were for Trent XWBs. We know how crucial it is for our customers to rebuild and grow their networks sustainably, using new-generation engines like the Trent XWB.

“Since the start of the pandemic, we have implemented safe working measures in our production facilities, which have allowed us to continue to deliver our world-class products on time, while keeping our people safe.”

Entering into service more than six years ago, the Trent XWB-84 was the first of the Trent XWB variants to commence operations, powering the Airbus A350-900. Three years later, the larger Airbus A350-1000 entered service, powered by the Trent XWB-97. Combined, the Trent XWB family has accumulated more than eight million engine flying hours and powered more than 600,000 flights.

The versatility of the Airbus A350, enabled by the Trent XWB means operators are able to efficiently deploy the aircraft on short domestic routes, such as those operated by Japan Airlines (JAL), to ultra-long-range routes such as those operated by Singapore Airlines.

This operational flexibility, combined with the reliability and efficiency delivered by the Trent XWB, has been especially important to operators throughout the pandemic.

Mr Keisuke Suzuki, JAL corporate strategy department vice president, said: “Our investment in the A350 with fuel-efficient and reliable Trent XWB engines has enabled us to continue serving our domestic network through the crisis and will form the backbone for recovery when we start to operate long haul flights too.”