Aircraft

Virgin Atlantic Airways has selected Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines to power the 15 Boeing 787-9s which it has on firm order.

The UK carrier is also forming an environmental partnership with Rolls-Royce, under which both companies will work together to continually lower fuel-burn and emissions.

Speaking during a media briefing in New York today, Virgin president Sir Richard Branson said: "Virgin has chosen the cleanest possible engines for its more fuel-efficient future with the 787.

"Rolls-Royce engines will help us to cut emissions per flight by nearly 30% as we pursue our goal to become the most sustainable airline in the world."

Virgin values the deal, which includes four spare engines, at $2.6 billion at list prices. The UK carrier has a keen environmental focus and recently performed a biofuel test flight using a Boeing 747.

It says the 787-9 will burn 27% less fuel than its A340-300s. Virgin has 15 787-9s on order, with options on a further eight and purchase rights on 20 more.

Source: flightglobal.com's sister premium news site Air Transport Intelligence news

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