Today Rolls Royce Plc announced that it had struck a deal worth US$800 million with Air China. Air China has chosen to use the Rolls Royce Trent 1000 engine for use on its new fleet of 15 Boeing 787 Dreamliners.

Included in the deal is a long term TotalCare® maintenance agreement. Deliveries of the aircraft are set to begin June 2008.

In a statement issued by Rolls Royce, Mr Li Jiaxiang, Chairman of Air China, said that: "The decision to select the Rolls Royce Trent 1000 was taken after a careful evaluation and successful negotiation. It meets the operational requirements of our Boeing 787 fleet, and the choice will be beneficial to Air China's development. Air China and Rolls Royce have a well established collaborative relationship, and we believe that this relationship will broaden in future.'

Earlier this year Air China also began taking deliveries of 20 Trent 700 powered A330s.

China