Rolls-Royce signs new engine maintenance agreement with Thomas Cook

15 December 2006 - Rolls-Royce has been awarded a new contract to provide complete engine overhaul for Thomas Cook Airlines UK Ltd. This agreement covers RB211-535 engines for the airline’s 18 Boeing 757 aircraft and follows a previous 15-year arrangement between the two companies. The new deal is worth up to £60 million over the next five years.

The work will be carried out at the Rolls-Royce Aero Repair and Overhaul (AR&O) facility in Derby, UK.

John Paterson, Managing Director, Aero Repair and Overhaul at Rolls-Royce, said: “Our state-of-the-art facilities ensure that we are consistently able to provide the highest standards of engine maintenance and repair services to our customers. We are delighted that Thomas Cook has chosen to extend its agreement with us demonstrating their renewed confidence in the service we provide.”

Chris Hubbard, Director of Engineering at Thomas Cook Airlines, commented: “We have always maintained an excellent working relationship with Rolls-Royce which has helped them to understand our business. This helped them to provide a maintenance package that best served our needs.”

There are more than 1,300 RB211-535s in service with over 80 operators and have accumulated over 40 million hours of operation.


Note to editors

1. Thomas Cook Airlines is the UK’s second-largest leisure airline and is part of Thomas Cook UK & Ireland. It has a fleet of four Airbus A320s, three Airbus A 330s, 15 Boeing 757s and two Boeing 757-300s. Its headquarters is in Manchester with airport bases in Manchester, Gatwick, Glasgow, Newcastle, Birmingham, East Midlands and Stansted. During the summer months, the airline operates from a further eight UK airports. Each year it carries 2.7 million passengers to 52 holiday destinations.

2. Rolls-Royce repair and overhaul business has 17 sites on four continents, and the capability to overhaul over 40 engine types.

3. The company has repair and overhaul joint ventures in Hong Kong, Dallas and Singapore, which provide overhaul on large civil engines such as the Trent and RB211 in partnership with HAECO, sister company of Cathay Pacific, American Airlines and SIA Engineering Company. It is also building a fourth joint venture facility in Germany with Lufthansa Technik, called N3 Engine Overhaul Services, due to open next year.

4. The RB211-535 is one of the most reliable widebody engines in service, with the average time to first shop visit at around 20,000 hours. The engine holds the world record for on-wing life without removal for over 40,000 hours over nine years in operation. On average, the RB211-535 stays on wing almost twice as long as the competing engine on the airframe.

5. Rolls-Royce has a broad customer base comprising 600 airlines, 4,000 corporate and utility aircraft and helicopter operators, 160 armed forces and more than 2,000 marine customers, including 70 navies. The company has energy customers in 120 countries. Rolls-Royce is a technology leader, employing around 37,000 people in offices, manufacturing and service facilities in 50 countries.

Contact Information

Annalie Brown

Communications Manager – Civil Aerospace

Rolls-Royce plc

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