First Airbus A350-1000 powered by Trent XWB-97 engine enters service

The Airbus A350-1000 has entered the service of global launch customer, Qatar Airways at a delivery event in Toulouse, France. The aircraft
is the first of 37 A350-1000s ordered by the carrier.

The other version of the Trent XWB, rated at 84,000lb, powers the A350-900 which first entered service in January 2015, again with Qatar Airways. Today 290 of these engines are in service with airlines worldwide, having accumulated more than 1.3 million flying hours.

The event marks the start of a series of first aircraft deliveries for Rolls-Royce, with its engines also due to power the Airbus A330neo and the Boeing 787-10 into service in the coming months.

Trent XWB – engineering by numbers:

• It sucks in up to 1.3 tonnes of air, the equivalent of a squash court, every second at take-off.
• The force on a fan blade at take-off is equivalent to a load of almost 90 tons, the same as nine London buses hanging off each blade.
• High pressure turbine blades inside the engine rotate at 12,500 rpm, with their tips reaching 1,200mph – twice the speed of sound.
• At take off each of the engine’s 68 high pressure turbine blades generates around 900 horsepower per blade – the equivalent to that of a Formula One racing car.
• At full power, air leaves the nozzle at the back of the engine travelling at almost 1000mph (+-1600km/h).

Updated on 22 February 2018