Emirates shakes hands with Rolls-Royce on A380 engines

AFP photo

Dubai’s Emirates said on Dec. 29 it has reached an agreement with Rolls-Royce over a “technical issue” relating to the engines of Airbus’s A380 superjumbo, and confirmed receiving one plane this week.

The carrier also said it “will continue to receive deliveries of both A380s and (Boeing) 777s in 2017.”

“Emirates can confirm that we have come to an agreement with Rolls-Royce on the technical issue relating to engines for our A380s. We have received delivery of our first Rolls-Royce powered A380s this week,” a spokesperson told AFP. It will take delivery of two more units “before the end of this year.”

Airbus said on dec. 28 that it delivered the first A380 to Emirates equipped with a Rolls-Royce engine, a day after it said it was postponing for a year the planned delivery of 12 units.

The delay was linked to the Emirates’s wish to purchase the finest Rolls-Royce engines, an informed source said.

“We continue to work closely with Airbus and Emirates Airline to satisfy their requests,” a Rolls-Royce spokesman told AFP on Dec. 28.

In November, Emirates complained of “technical difficulties” with the Trent 900 engines produced by the British firm for the A380.

In April 2015, Airbus selected Rolls-Royce for the lucrative deal to provide the engines for 50 of its A380s that was worth a record at the time of $9.2 billion.

Emirates, the biggest client for superjumbos, took delivery of its A380 in November and has ordered 142 in total.

A380s with the Rolls-Royce motor are already being operated by other airlines such as Qantas and Singapore Airlines.