Feedback on the Trent 900 powerplants indicates "technical issues" that need to be resolved before the first plane is delivered to Emirates next month, said Tim Clark, the Dubai-carrier's president.
"We have a new engine coming on and there are some issues with that at the moment," Clark said at a media briefing. "We want the engines as promised in the contract."
Emirates last year ordered 217 Trent 900s — sufficient to power the 50 four-engine A380s, plus spares — after previously purchasing GP7000 powerplants from an alliance of General Electric Co. and Pratt & Whitney for its first 90 superjumbos. The deal with Rolls included unspecified "quality improvements."
Clark said Emirates will "hopefully" still take the first Rolls-Royce powered plane on Dec. 2 as planned, adding that talks are underway with the manufacturer on resolving the performance problems and whether it should compensate the airline.
