Rolls-Royce powers A380 first flight

27 April, 2005

                ROLLS-ROYCE TRENT 900 ENGINES POWER SUCCESSFUL                 
                         MAIDEN FLIGHT OF AIRBUS A380                          

Four Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines today powered a successful maiden flight in
France of the 555-seat A380 aircraft built by Airbus. The new aircraft took off
from Blagnac International Airport adjacent to the Airbus headquarters in
Toulouse and returned safely after a flight lasting four hours.

Commenting on the performance of the engines, Airbus Flight Test Engineer Jacky
Joye, said: "We'd flown a single Trent 900 previously on the flying test bed,
so we knew how they'd perform. Today, on the A380 itself, they behaved really
well, and, as expected, we had no surprises."

Mike Terrett, President - Civil Aerospace, Rolls-Royce, added: "This successful
first flight has lived up to all our expectations for the engines. We saw a
full-power take-off that was quiet enough to impress all observers. Development
of the Trent 900 is on schedule, with its performance meeting, and in some
instances beating, the programme targets. Our focus is to continue working with
Airbus to ensure a smooth entry into service by the A380 next year for launch
customers - starting with Singapore Airlines.

"This is a positive milestone for a successful programme that will help secure
thousands of jobs for Rolls-Royce and its suppliers."

The Trent 900 is the world's cleanest high-thrust engine, measured by emissions
per pound of thrust. The A380's flight inaugurates a comprehensive test
programme that will require Rolls-Royce to supply engines for four different
aircraft.

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NOTES TO EDITORS

 1. Nine airline customers have so far selected engines to go with purchases of
    the A380, and six of them have chosen the Rolls-Royce Trent 900: Singapore
    Airlines, Lufthansa, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas, Virgin Atlantic and Etihad
    Airways. With firm and option orders placed for 84 Trent-powered A380s,
    Rolls-Royce has secured a 51 per cent share of the market.
   
 2. The first Trent 900 engine ran on schedule in March 2003, made its maiden
    flight on an Airbus A340-300 flying-test bed in May 2004, and completed a
    successful 60-hour flight test programme. Engine certification was achieved
    on schedule in October 2004. It is the fourth member of the Trent family of
    engines to be introduced since 1995.
   
 3. Seven companies are participating as risk and revenue-sharing partners on
    the Trent 900 programme: Industria de Turbo Propulsores (ITP), Hamilton
    Sundstrand, Avio, Marubeni, Volvo Aero, Goodrich and Honeywell. In
    addition, Samsung Techwin, Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) and
    Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries (IHI) are programme associates.
   
 4. At take-off, the A380's four Trent 900s will deliver thrust equivalent to
    the power of more than 3,500 family cars. The engine's hollow, titanium fan
    blades suck in over 1.25 tons of air every second.
   
 5. Rolls-Royce employs around 12,000 people in the UK that are directly
    associated with its civil aerospace business.
   
For further information please contact:

Martin Johnson

Vice President, Communications

Rolls-Royce

Tel: [phone]

Email: [e-mail]

Images of the first flight can be downloaded from: http://www.Rolls-Royce.com/