Rolls-Royce roars back into growing short-range aircraft market

Rolls-Royce has taken a major step in its return to the short-range jet market by starting work on a smaller version of its new Ultrafan engine.

Boss Tufan Erginbilgic said the company was working on a “demonstrator” of the engine at its headquarters in Derby, alongside the larger version designed for long-haul aircraft.

The move marks Rolls-Royce’s return to the growing market for narrow-body aircraft used by carriers such as Ryanair and Easyjet for shorter international flights or domestic routes.

Erginbilgic’s comments came during a wide-ranging briefing at the Farnborough Air Show in which he also said delays to Britain’s future fighter jet programme were unhelpful.

Rolls-Royce exited the narrow-body market more than a decade ago but failed to break through as demand for planes such as the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 surged while orders for wide-body aircraft slowed. Its latest move will allow the engineer to enter a field dominated by US-based Pratt & Whitney and GE.

Rolls says its Ultrafan engine, expected to enter service in the 2030s, will be more fuel efficient and able to run on 100% sustainable aviation fuel, which is made from waste such as cooking oil and produces much lower carbon emissions.

It has already tested the largest version of the engines at full power and has said the technology will be “scalable”, indicating an ambition to make smaller versions.

Rolls will still have to find customers (such as Airbus or Boeing) to build the planes that use those engines.

“At some point we’ll have to get them on board, but that work is already underway,” Erginbilgic said.

The test flight could take place within three to five years. Erginbilgic has said that if it develops narrow-body engines, it will need to work in partnership with another company to produce them.

Meanwhile, Rolls-Royce is also working on the Tempest fighter jet programme, the future of which has been subject to increasing doubt after the Labour Party announced a defence review due next year.

Erginbilgic said conducting the review “makes sense” but did not agree on how long it would take, adding uncertainty to a program already involving 1,000 Rolls-Royce employees, diverting some engineers from its civil aerospace division.