Rolls gets boost as BA upgrades fleet

There was further evidence of a newly confident airline industry on Thursday as British Airways completed contracts with power systems developer Rolls-Royce for Trent 900 and Trent 1000 engines to power up to 61 new wide-body aircraft.The order was originally announced in September 2007 and is worth in excess of $5bn at list prices if all options are exercised. It comes two days after British Airways' no frills rival easyJet announced plans to exercise its option to take delivery of 15 Airbus A320 aircraft, and agreed new options over a further 33 A320 aircraft."We are delighted to have concluded these contracts, which position British Airways strongly for the future," claimed British Airways' chief executive, Willie Walsh.The order is for Trent 900 engines to power 12 Airbus A380 aircraft, with a potential additional seven options, and Trent 1000 engines to power 24 Boeing 787 Dreamliners, with 18 options. The contracts include Rolls-Royce TotalCare long-term support agreements.It's another welcome endorsement for the Trent 900 following a wave of bad publicity late last year when one of the engines used on a Qantas A380 blew up midflight, forcing the super-jumbo to make an emergency landing.An investigation found the failure was confined to a specific component, which caused an oil fire and the release of the intermediate pressure turbine disc. Rolls-Royce Bay Capital