First Trent 1000 arrives at Rolls-Royce’s Dahlewitz MRO facility
December 10, 2024
With Rolls-Royce’s Dahlewitz MRO facility now offering support to the Trent 100 engine, this additional capacity – announced earlier this year as part of £55 million investment – forms part of what Rolls-Royce describes as a plan to “significantly increase [its] global MRO capacity and capability by 2030”.
Around a half of the total investment will be made in Dahlewitz, with a strong immediate focus on directing existing test capability towards the Trent 1000 – something much in demand by operators. “In the short-term… [this provides] additional capacity to the global network and [enables] the introduction of next year’s Durability Enhancement package,” explained Rolls-Royce, which envisions the facility to “transition to assemble and test new Trent XWB-84 engines in the future” as part of “the longer-term forecast”.
However, although supporting the Trent 1000 through more immediate MRO visits and inspection events may appear to be a primary priority, the investment into the Dahlewitz site is also indicative of elevated future capacity expectations. “We’re investing in a resilient and future plan to significantly increase our global MRO capacity and capability,” explained Rolls-Royce commercial aviation aftermarket operations director Paul Keenan, adding: “New orders and increasing flying hours, on top of a strong existing fleet performance, mean that demand for shop visits will increase”.
Designed and optimised to power the Boeing 787 Dreamliner family of aircraft, the Trent 1000 has nevertheless experienced alleged durability issues, with operators also increasingly affected by supply chain constraints. British Airways, Gulf Air and Virgin Atlantic are among the airlines who have publicly criticised the powerplant, citing ongoing negative impact to route expansion and fleet reliability.
In 2023, Rolls-Royce announced a £1 billion investment to all its in-service engines, including a Durability Enhancement package for the Trent 7000 and 1000 TEN models (promising to more than double their time on wing). A second phase of the hot-section enhancement package promises to increase engine durability “by up to an additional 30%, delivering even more profit and generating even more potential for [Rolls-Royce’s] operators”.
