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Rolls-Royce maintains that wide-body planes
should be considered for regular domestic flights.
Wide-body planes could be a key solution to increase
efficiency in passenger and help ease air traffic.
A single flight of a wide-bodied aircraft can
take the passenger load equivalent to three flights
of a narrow-body aircraft. The other advantage
is that using a wide-body aircraft on high-frequency
corridors like Delhi- Mumbai or Delhi- Chennai
would help release pressure from the slot constraints
faced by the airports and the airline operators.
It will also give passengers a better in-flight
experience. Also, with integrated airport terminals
in cities like Bangalore, Delhi, Hyderabad and
Mumbai, the aircraft turnaround time for wide-bodied
aircraft will quicker.
“Rolls Royce is positive that the loosening
of the FDI policy and allowing foreign investment
of up to 49 per cent will boost the aviation sector
in India. Indian civil aviation industry has immense
growth potential and I am confident that such
timely measures will allow the sector to brave
the slow economic growth and a host of other factors
to ensure longer terms sustainable growth,”
said Rolls-Royce India President Kishore Jayaraman.
Mr Jayaraman highlighted: “Today’s
technology has enabled aero engines to be more
fuel efficient than ever before. For example,
Rolls-Royce Trent XWB is some 20 per cent more
fuel efficient than the engines powering the airliners
it will replace, saving airlines operating the
Airbus A350 XWB around £2 million per aircraft,
per year.”
The Airbus A350 XWB flew for the first time
late last year. The Trent XWB is the most efficient,
large civil aerospace engine ever produced, with
over 1,600 engines ordered to date. With over
200 flights, more than 800 flying hours and over
6,000 testing hours, the engine is performing
well and is on schedule to power the A350 XWB’s
entry into service with Qatar Airways later this
year.
Rolls-Royce continuously pursues innovation
that will improve the performance of their power
systems and benefit their customers. In 2013 alone,
they invested £1,118 million in gross research
& development (R&D) and has an aim to
improve engine fuel-efficiency by 30 per cent
by 2050.
Most recently, the company unveiled its next
generation of engine designs, which could be ready
within 10 years, featuring technology innovation
designed to transform performance. The first design,
Advance, will offer at least 20 per cent better
fuel burn and CO2 emissions than the first generation
of Trent engine and could be ready from the end
of this decade. The second, UltraFan™, a
geared design with a variable pitch fan system,
is based on technology that could be ready for
service from 2025 and will offer at least 25 per
cent improvement in fuel burn and emissions against
the same baseline.
Today, Rolls-Royce has more than 4,000 engines
in service in India, with customers across civil,
defence, marine and energy sectors. Rolls-Royce
footprint expands through India. From a Marine
facility in Mumbai to Service facility in Kochi.
In Bangalore, the company, through their partnership
with QuEST and TCS, employs over 1000 engineers,
at Rolls-Royce managed engineering centre. This
is the largest population of Rolls-Royce engineers
outside the UK and they provide high quality engineering
solutions and services across the entire product
development life-cycle.
“India is more than a business opportunity
market for us. Over the years, it has grown in
strategic importance for us,” Kishore explains.
And just hours away, the IAMPL facility, a
joint venture between Rolls-Royce and HAL, and
is a mark of their commitment to the future of
Indian aerospace industry.
Traditionally Rolls-Royce has focused itself
to develop good understanding of the local business
environment and culture to ensure we build a sustainable
business and contribute to the future of the country.
“The Group’s success in India is
based on a strong collaborative approach and a
deep understanding of customer needs. India is
a country full of potential and one of the fastest
growing markets in the world. We look forward
to accelerating our business development and partnership
initiatives as we work to further contribute to
India’s growing aviation sector. We are very
hopeful that a progressive civil aviation policy
will help in making Indian skies the busiest and
enhance business for all of us. And we are very
confident that the Indian market is ready for
our high technology products.” Kishore ended
on a positive note.
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