Rolls-Royce Publishes Update on Trent XWB-84 Engines, Five Years After Entering Service

Rolls-Royce reported on Tuesday an update on their Trent XWB-84 engine around five years after entering service on the Airbus A350. The first delivered engines are now entering the shop, having traveled an average of 14 million kilometers.

On Tuesday (August 11, 2020), Rolls-Royce published an update on their Trent XWB-84 engines, the world’s most efficient in-service large commercial aircraft powerplant. The engines entered scheduled service approximately five years ago on the Airbus A350 and are now making their first scheduled shop visit after traveling an average of 14 million kilometers with no unplanned maintenance. Rolls-Royce has identified wear in the Intermediate Pressure Compressor (IPC) on a small number of engines approaching overhaul. While none of the affected engines experienced abnormal in-flight disruptions, the company will inspect all other Trent XWB-84s with a similar four to five year service life as a precaution. In Tuesday’s announcement, Rolls-Royce’s President – Civil Aerospace, Chris Cholerton said,

“The Trent XWB-84 has experienced the smoothest entry into service of any widebody engine we have developed. It is the most efficient in-service large civil aero-engine in the world, with unequaled on-wing reliability. Engines now coming in for overhaul have travelled the equivalent of 350 times around the world, with no unplanned maintenance. It is reassuring to see our proactive inspection regime has enabled us to identify and swiftly address this issue and minimize any potential impact on our customers.”

With the availability of replacement parts and spare engines, Rolls-Royce does not expect significant customer disruption or material annual cost related to the required maintenance work. The company provided this update to address any speculation regarding an Airworthiness Directive (AD) which is to be issued by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). Currently, there are just over 100 Trent XWB-84s which have been in service for four to five years and of those inspected, signs of wear were found on only 1-2 IPC blades, and only then on a minority of engines inspected. As a precaution, the company also inspected lower life-cycle Trent XWB-84s and no unexpected wear was evident.

Source: Rolls-Royce