Emirates agrees deal with Rolls-Royce to maintain its own A380 engines

DUBAI (Reuters) -Dubai-based Emirates will perform maintenance, repair and overhaul for the Trent 900 engines on its A380 aircraft from 2027, under a memorandum of understanding signed with engine maker Rolls-Royce, the airline said on Thursday.

Emirates is the largest user of the out-of-production A380, which offered a choice of engines. The Gulf carrier is refurbishing planes to last beyond next decade after Airbus stopped production in 2021.

The carrier also extended the TotalCare service agreement with Rolls-Royce for its A380s into the 2040s, according to the statement.

The deal follows an agreement earlier this week to open an assembly line for seats in Dubai with France’s Safran.

Emirates has been at loggerheads with Rolls over engine performance on the next generation of large jets, the A350-1000, though it has praised the smaller A350-900 which it started taking a year ago.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher. Writing by Ahmed Elimam. Editing by Mark Potter)