Trent to power Dreamliners

Manama : Ten of Gulf Air’s incoming Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners will be powered by Britain’s Rolls-Royce’s Trent 1000-TEN engines, it was announced yesterday.

The move, seen as an important step forward in developing the airline’s future fleet, also includes an agreement for longterm TotalCare service support. As of now, Gulf Air’s wide body fleet are powered by Trent 700 engines manufactured by Rolls Royce.

The deal also comes as a relief to Rolls-Royce who have been working quickly to repair problems with some of its Trent 1000 engines that have left planes grounded.

Most Rolls-Royce engines for the 787 are under scrutiny, although the newer version – the Trent 1000 TEN – is not impacted. The latest development concerns Package C Trent 1000s. It has said the problems will be fully resolved by 2022.

Gulf Air is all set to induct 39 new Boeing and Airbus aircraft to it fleet. By end-2018, the company will take delivery of five Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners and two Airbus A320neo aircraft.

Three Dreamliner services have been announced this year: the Bahrain - London, Heathrow service, the Bahrain – Casablanca, Morocco service and the Bahrain – Bangkok, Thailand service. In advance of Gulf Air’s Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner serving the airline’s Bahrain - London, Heathrow route next month, Simon Martin, The British Ambassador to Bahrain was recently welcomed to Bahrain’s national carrier’s headquarters.