(Posted 12th June 2025)
Rolls Royce today launched the first of two
Durability Enhancement Packages, that will more than double the duration
Trent 1000 engines remain in service before needing scheduled maintenance.
This marks an important milestone on Rolls-Royce’s transformation
programme into a high performing, competitive, resilient and growing
business.
Increasing ‘Time on Wing’ for the Trent 1000 will bring significantly improved
asset utilisation, reduced maintenance burden and provide far greater fleet
planning certainty for customers. The durability enhancement complements
the excellent reliability that the Trent 1000 already has.
The enhancement package has been installed in new engines since January
2025, ready for delivery to customers at the earliest opportunity post-
certification. From today, they will now be distributed to maintenance facilities
globally, to be retrofitted to engines that are already in service. Within two
years all of the Trent 1000 fleet will have been upgraded.
The upgraded components have already been enhancing durability since
2022 on the Trent 7000 engine. It is performing better than expected, and in
some cases more than tripling Time on Wing. This proven in-service
performance gives Rolls-Royce full confidence in the same benefit reading
across to Trent 1000 customers.
The new technologies – part of the Trent fleet £1bn durability enhancement
programme – will contribute to Rolls-Royce meeting its mid-term targets to
increase average Time on Wing across all modern Trent engines, which
incorporates the Trent 1000, Trent 7000, Trent XWB-84 and Trent XWB-97.
The company announced earlier this year that this target would double from
its initial ambition of a 40% average increase to 80% by 2027.
Chief Executive Officer, Tufan Erginbilgic, said: “The Trent 1000 is an
important engine for us and today marks a new chapter in its story. When
upgraded, we’re confident that our customers and their passengers will benefit
from increased durability, thanks to the proven enhancements that have
already surpassed our expectations on the Trent 7000.
As part of our ongoing transformation, the investment we have made in new
technologies will see the Trent 1000 deliver for Boeing, our customers and our
investors. It’s a win-win for everyone involved.”
The first phase of durability enhancement includes a 40% increase in cooling
to the new high pressure turbine blade. There are also updates to the
combustion system, fuel spray nozzles and engine electronic controller
software.
Rob Watson, President of Rolls-Royce Civil Aerospace, said: “Today is an
important day for Rolls-Royce, our customers and our partnership with
Boeing. We know that the same enhancements have already tripled Time on
Wing in some cases for the Trent 7000, so we are confident it will deliver for
Trent 1000 customers. To do so at pace, we began installing the
enhancements into new engines prior to today’s certification to reduce the
lead time as much as possible. They will now enter the fleet immediately.”
Phase two of the Durability Enhancement Package is currently being tested at
Rolls-Royce’s facility in Derby, UK and will bring a further 30% improvement in
Time on Wing across the Trent 1000 and Trent 7000 fleets. It features
advanced coating on combustor tiles in non-benign environments; cooling and
coating changes to high pressure nozzle guide vanes; weight reduction and
coating improvements to high pressure turbine blades; and a redesigned
combustor-to-turbine interface taken from the latest variant Trent XWB-84 EP.
This further enhancement will start entering the Trent 1000 fleet from early
2026.
Rolls-Royce’s transformation programme is enabling it to deliver on its
strategic initiatives. Today’s announcement on the Trent 1000 is an example
of that in action. This milestone builds on the Trent 1000’s already strong
reliability performance and creates a truly competitive and compelling product
for customers.
