£180m deal to power Colombian freight

INDUSTRIAL giant Rolls-Royce yesterday won a £180 million order from Colombian flag carrier Avianca for engines for four Airbus A330 freight aircraft in the latest of a series of deals at the Farnborough air show.

The airline already uses the firm’s Trent 700 engines to power seven of its passenger A330s, with a further three aircraft ordered.

Fabio Villegas, president and chief executive at Avianca, said: “The Trent 700 is the most fuel-efficient, cleanest and quietest engine for the Airbus A330 and we are pleased to extend the engine’s use to freight operations in the region.”

In June, Avianca joined the Star Alliance airline network. Rolls-Royce powers 60 per cent of the current and future wide-body aircraft for the alliance.

Rolls-Royce was bullish on its chances of winning further work, claiming its track record providing engines for the three latest aircraft programmes will give it an advantage in the battle to be picked by Boeing to power its next-generation 777 planes.

News of the Avianca deal comes amid a flurry of contracts signed at the air show.

Avions de Transport Regional, an aircraft maker owned by European aerospace group EADS and Italian company Finmeccanica, revealed it has received 24 orders so far this year, with 200 aircraft in its order book, primarily short-haul planes.