Derby-Rolls Royce won $2bn contract

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Derby-based engineering firm Rolls Royce says it has won orders to make $2bn (£1.2bn) of aircraft engines to power Airbus planes for Air China and Ethiopian Airlines.

The $1.5bn Air China order involves providing Trent 700 engines to power 20 A330 aircraft that will be delivered from 2011. And the $480m Ethiopian order covers Trent XWB engines for 12 A350-900 XWB planes that will begin service in 2017.

Airlines have been hit hard during the recession, so this development is good news, not only for Rolls-Royce, which has factories in Derby and Bristol making engines, but also for business opportunities  and jobs in and around Derby.

The Ethiopian order means Rolls-Royce has sold more than 1,000 of its best-selling XWB engines.

In the summer the firm said it was on track to meet its full-year financial targets, but warned that delays on the Airbus A380 and Boeing 787 wide-body programmes had added an element of uncertainty.

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