Rolls-Royce congratulates STARLUX Airlines on the delivery of A350-900 powered by the Trent XWB-84

Rolls-Royce joined STARLUX Airlines and Airbus in celebrating the delivery of the airline’s first A350-900, which is powered by Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-84 engines. The aircraft departed from Airbus’ Delivery Centre in Toulouse, France, and landed at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, the home base of STARLUX Airlines. It will initially fly to major cities within the Asia-Pacific region and will start operations to Los Angeles in April 2023. A further Rolls-Royce powered A350-900 will be added to the airline’s fleet later this year.

K.W. Chang, STARLUX Chairman, commented: “This delivery is a milestone for STARLUX Airlines. The A350-900 is our first large widebody aircraft, which will allow STARLUX to open markets for longer routes, and this also marks the next step in our partnership with Rolls-Royce, with 17 more A350s powered by Trent XWB to be delivered in the future. With the addition of the A350-900, the STARLUX fleet now can cover short, mid, and long range flights, providing service to passengers outside Asia.”

Ewen McDonald, Chief Customer Officer, Rolls-Royce Civil Aerospace, said: "We would like to congratulate STARLUX on taking delivery of their first A350 passenger aircraft, which is powered by Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-84 engines. This delivery builds on our partnership with STARLUX who earlier this year took delivery of their first A330neo, which is also powered by our Trent 7000 engines. We look forward to further supporting STARLUX to maximize their fleet performance and achieve operational excellence. We thank STARLUX for their trust in Rolls-Royce, and we will continue our commitment to providing reliable power and world-class service to help STARLUX fly higher and further."

Following its entry into service in 2015, the Trent XWB-84 now supports more than 30 airlines operating on a variety of different routes from short-range segments to ultra-long-range flights of more than 18 hours – demonstrating its versatility and capability. This August, Rolls-Royce announced that the Trent XWB-84 has accumulated more than 10 million engine flying hours, achieving another impressive milestone for the engine programme.

The Trent XWB is the world’s most efficient aero engine in service and supports airlines on their sustainability journey. The engine has a 15 per cent fuel consumption advantage over the first Trent engine, goes further on less fuel, and offers leading performance and noise levels. It is also ready to operate on 50% Sustainable Aviation Fuels, as they become more available to airlines in the future. In addition, the Trent XWB-84 has contributed to avoiding more than 15 million tonnes of CO2 since it launched in 2015 – that’s the same amount of CO2 it takes to provide electricity to nearly two million homes each year.