The new facility, Beijing Aero Engine Services Company Limited (BAESL), will provide MRO support on the Rolls-Royce Trent 700, Trent XWB-84 and Trent 1000 aero engines.
Rolls-Royce, the world’s second-largest maker of aircraft engines has announced that the company is entering into a new 50/50 Joint Venture (JV) with Air China, the flag carrier of the People’s Republic of China. The Joint Venture between the two companies will create a new maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility in Beijing, China. The new Beijing facility, Beijing Aero Engine Services Company Limited (BAESL), will provide MRO support on the Rolls-Royce Trent 700, Trent XWB-84 and Trent 1000 aero engines. Air China currently flies all three engine types in its fleet.
The facility is expected to achieve its full functional capacity by the mid-2030s. The Beijing Aero Engine Services Company Limited will be able to support up to 250 shop visits per year. The facility will offer MRO services to Air China as well as our other airline customers based in Greater China and beyond. Currently, Rolls-Royce powers 60% of China’s widebody fleet, powering more than 550 aircraft in service or on order. The Rolls-Royce Trent 700 engines also power 90% of the country’s Airbus A330 fleet and the Greater China fleet represents 20% of all Trent engines flying currently.
Chris Cholerton, President – Civil Aerospace, Rolls-Royce, said, “The announcement of this JV is an important milestone for Rolls-Royce in China, where we have been powering the nation’s airlines for more than 50 years. Air China is a strategic partner for us, having successfully grown together over many years, and I am delighted to now expand our relationship with this exciting partnership in MRO and look forward to continued growth of our collaboration.”
This Joint Venture is an important part of Rolls-Royce’s strategy for China, in terms of deepening our relationship with Air China, giving customers the best level of service, improving the cost-competitiveness of the company’s business and generating incremental MRO capacity as shop visits grow. It aligns in-region growth with in-region capacity providing customer proximity, which supports Rolls-Royce’s sustainability goals by reducing overseas transportation of engines for MRO activity.
Ma Chongxian, President of Air China, said “With safe operation as top priority, Air China has long been committed to developing aircraft maintenance capabilities and ensuring the reliability of the fleet, meanwhile striving to promote the industrialisation of aircraft maintenance. In the future, Air China and Rolls-Royce will continue to deepen our profound partnership and start a new journey of cooperation in the field of high thrust engine maintenance. We look forward to building the Joint Venture into a world-class aero engine MRO company and increasing the volume of China’s civil aero engine MRO industry.”
The new facility will also support the continued expansion of Rolls-Royce’s capable, competitive and flexible global Care Network. It is part of the company’s strategy to expand the MRO network in a cost-effective way in order to support the growing fleet, as outlined at the Rolls-Royce Investor Day in May 2022.
