Rolls-Royce says 'even more true' it wants to enter narrow-body market

By Paul Sandle

PARIS (Reuters) -Rolls-Royce CEO Tufan Erginbilgic said on Tuesday it was "even more true" that the British jet engine maker would like to re-enter the narrow-body airplane market, preferably through a partnership.

He said he had previously described the single-aisle market as an opportunity and that was "even more true" now.

"We are talking to multiple parties, and they are also talking to us, and we obviously engage with Airbus and Boeing because they will be the ultimate customers, and they more than welcome this," he told reporters at the Paris Airshow.

A successful move into the narrow-body market could deliver the single biggest boost to Britain's economic growth, he said.

Rolls-Royce was in an alliance with Pratt & Whitney on engines for Airbus A320 single-aisle jets until 2011. But it pulled out for the current generation of narrow-bodies, whose sales have soared.

Engine makers and airframers are jockeying for position ahead of the planes that will replace the workhorse Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 families.

Erginbilgic said he believed the airframers would not move to the next generation before 2035.

Rolls is making a smaller version of its fuel-efficient Ultrafan demonstrator, seen as a further step towards re-entering the market.

Rival GE Aerospace is running tests with French partner Safran on their RISE open-fan technology for future narrow-bodies, promising fuel savings of about 20% from 2035 onwards.

Erginbilgic said Rolls had previously researched the rival technology, and in its view fuel efficiency with open fan would be 2-3% better "at best" than its next generation ducted engines, but "the risks are far greater".

"It is commercial risk, as well as other risks, because you are going to change the whole aircraft configuration," he said.

The risk profile was a lot bigger than developing a more efficient ducted engine, he said, adding that Rolls had achieved 2% fuel savings on some of its existing engines.

Passengers' acceptance of radical technology should also not be overlooked, he said.

"I'm not sure passengers would like to see a big fan," he said.

"Not everybody is comfortable with flying, so you need to make it as comfortable, as safe as possible. Even the visual representation, it is hard to see."

($1 = 0.7377 pounds)

(Reporting by Paul Sandle. Additional reporting by Sarah Young. Editing by Mark Potter)