Cathay Pacific takes delivery of Rolls-Royce’s 1,000th Trent 700 engine
Cathay Pacific Engineering Director Christopher Gibbs joined Eric Schulz, Rolls-Royce Chief Operating Officer – Civil Aerospace, and Christian Favre, Airbus A330 Chief Engineer, at the Rolls-Royce production plant for civil aircraft engines in Derby, England, to witness the handover of the 1,000th engine at a special ceremony.
Cathay Pacific was the first airline to receive a Trent 700 and together with its sister airline Dragonair is the now the world’s biggest operator of the engine. The airline group currently operates 48 Trent-powered A330 aircraft and has another 19 on firm order.
Commenting on the Cathay Pacific/Rolls-Royce landmark, Christopher Gibbs said: “The Trent 700-powered Airbus A330 is a world-beating engine-airframe combination that has achieved success as a result of its excellent commercial performance and passenger appeal over short- to medium-range missions. The Trent-powered A330 will go down as one of the most successful aircraft of all time.
“This product is a success story for Cathay Pacific, as it is for Rolls-Royce. As the largest Trent 700 customer, we have worked closely with Rolls-Royce throughout the life of the engine. The Trent 700 technology and Rolls-Royce support have helped us deliver our objectives and serve our customers.”
Since the airline’s first Trent-powered A330 flight to Singapore on 6 March 1995, Cathay Pacific and its sister airline Dragonair have completed more than half-a-million flights and operated over three million engine hours with Trent-powered A330s. The Cathay Pacific Group currently operates about 6% of the worldwide fleet of A330s and 12% of the Trent-powered fleet.
