The Airbus A350F completed its first flight powered by Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97 engines, taking the engine into the freighter market after eight years of service on the A350-1000.
The Trent XWB-97 has accumulated more than 4.5 million engine flying hours on the A350-1000. Rolls-Royce said this experience means the new freighter is supported by an engine already proven in airline operations. The A350F is built on the A350 platform.
The A350F has 115 orders from 14 customers.
Rolls-Royce said the operating profile of the A350F will differ from that of the passenger A350-1000, with typically much shorter stage lengths and higher payloads. The company said the expected freighter operating conditions remain well within the performance envelope already experienced by the Trent XWB-97.
The A350-1000 fleet typically operates missions averaging around nine hours, while the Trent XWB-97 spends 14 hours per day in the air. Rolls-Royce said those operations combine substantial passenger payloads with significant fuel loads, creating demanding take-off and climb conditions.
Ian Smith, Chief Engineer, Trent XWB, said: “For my engineering team, the starting point was to understand the freighter mission properly. We looked closely at expected payloads, stage lengths, utilisation and operating conditions and compared them with the real-world experience we already have from the A350-1000 fleet. That evidence gives us confidence that the Trent XWB-97 is ready for this new market.”
Rolls-Royce said it continues to invest in the Trent XWB-97, using in-flight and overhaul data to strengthen durability.
The company said an upgrade planned from 2028 is intended to deliver up to six years’ time on wing.
Phil Curnock, Chief Engineer, Trent XWB-97 upgrade, said: “The advantage of having millions of hours of Trent XWB-97 experience is that improvement is based on evidence, not assumption. We can see how the engine performs across different missions and environments, and use that insight to target the upgrades that matter most to customers. That is what ‘always ahead’ means from an engineering perspective.”
Rolls-Royce said Trent XWB-97 customers support their fleets through its TotalCare service, which it describes as designed around fleet availability, operational certainty and long-term partnership.
For A350F operators, the engine will enter the freighter market with an established operating history on the A350-1000, while Rolls-Royce continues to invest in its durability.
