Emirates (EK, Dubai International) will take the recently ordered twenty A380-800s with the current generation Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines, President Sir Tim Clark told AirlineRatings.com.
Speaking during the APG World Connect conference in Monaco, Clark said that he expected the engine issues to continue for another two or three years.
"The engine manufacturers are on a learning curve now, especially in regard to the metallurgical elements. I'm sure they have the best brains working on solving the problems," Clark said.
He added that he expected a new generation of engines to launch around 2025.
"I expect there will be propulsion with around 100,000 pounds of thrust. It could lower the fuel burn for A380s by some 15%. It will be a gamechanger for this size of aircraft," Clark said.
The current generation engines for the A380s produce up to 77,000 pounds of thrust for the Trent 900 and up to 81,500 pounds for the rival unit Engine Alliance GP7270.
Media reports speculated recently that the deliveries of the twenty A380s for Emirates, ordered in January 2018, could be delayed beyond 2020 after Airbus and Rolls-Royce failed to agree on performance requirements, price and fuel burn in particular.
According to the ch-aviation fleets module, the first ninety A380s delivered to Emirates were equipped with Engine Alliance powerplants, while the subsequent fifteen quadjets are propelled by Rolls-Royce Trent 900 units. All the remaining A380s on order are also to be equipped with Rolls-Royce engines.
As of September 30, 2018, Emirates still had fifty-seven firm A380-800s on order with a further sixteen options.
