Rolls Royce is “optimistic about future growth” with data showing a strong recovery post pandemic, said John Kelly, senior vice president for Europe, Middle East and Africa at the engine maker.

“The really good news is in terms of recovery, we’re strongly on the way back, we’re about three quarters of the way back in terms of flying hours, relative to those pre pandemic levels,” he said at the Bahrain International Airshow in November.

“We see us getting back to pre-pandemic levels in the middle of next year. But importantly in these markets, we are endeavouring to grow beyond that in terms of new deliveries, growth of our customer base, new opportunities. So we are really optimistic about the future growth.”

Sustainability

Kelly also touched on Rolls Royce’s sustainability programme. The company recently confirmed it had set a new aviation milestone with the world’s first run of a modern aero engine on hydrogen in partnership with Easyjet.

The ground test was conducted on an early concept demonstrator using green hydrogen created by wind and tidal power.

It marks a major step towards proving that hydrogen could be a zero carbon aviation fuel of the future and is a key proof point in the decarbonisation strategies of both Rolls-Royce and easyJet.

Goals

Kelly said Rolls Royce had three primary goals when addressing the issue. “One is to produce efficient fuel gas turbines. Second is sustainable aviation fuel.

“And then the third element that we’re bringing in is innovative new technologies to complement our existing product base.”
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