Addis Ababa — Rolls-Royce signed a Total Care service agreement with Ethiopian Airlines for Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97 engines that will power four new Airbus A350-1000 aircraft.

The agreement will provide the airline with predictability as well as a known cost for the services and maintenance.

Total Care is designed to provide operational certainty for customers by transferring time on wing and maintenance cost risk back to Rolls-Royce.

This industry-leading premium service offering is supported by data delivered through the Rolls-Royce advanced engine health monitoring system, which helps provide customers with increased operational availability, reliability and efficiency.

The Trent XWB is the most efficient large aero engine in service today and the Trent XWB-84 already powers 20 Ethiopian Airlines A350-900 aircraft in service.

The contract was signed during a visit by the airline to Rolls-Royce's Civil Aerospace headquarters in Derby, UK. Ethiopian Airlines is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its first flight to the UK in April 1973.

CEO of Ethiopian Airlines Mesfin Tasew said "we value the strong relationship we have built over the years with Rolls-Royce, and as we celebrate 50 years of flights to the UK, we continue to look forward to the implementation of this TotalCare agreement for the latest addition to our fleet with the introduction of the modern A350-1000 aircraft."

Ewen McDonald, Chief Customer Officer, Rolls-Royce stated that "We are delighted to sign this long-term service agreement with Ethiopian Airlines for their Trent XWB-97-powered Airbus A350-1000 aircraft."

Ethiopian Airlines has led the way in Africa as the first operator of the A350-900 and will be the first to introduce the A350-1000 in service, McDonald said.

"We look forward to providing a TotalCare service that maximises performance for both the Trent XWB-84 and Trent XWB-97, " he elaborated.