Saudi Arabia-based start-up airline, Riyadh Air, has signed a deal with Rolls-Royce for 100 Trent XWB-97 engines to power its fleet of up to 50 Airbus A350-1000s.

The deal was signed at the Paris Air Show 2025 and at the same time, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was also signed for Rolls-Royce’s comprehensive TotalCare service that will cover the health and maintenance of the engines.

The Trent XWB-97 engine is the world’s most efficient large aero-engine, specifically designed for the Airbus A350-1000 and will help fulfil Riyadh Air’s ambitions to fly to over 100 global destinations by 2030.

Riyadh Air’s fleet orders now total up to 182 aircraft across three fleet types. It is set to commence operations later in 2025.

Adam Boukadida, Riyadh Air’s chief financial officer, said: “The growth of Riyadh Air is of critical importance to the development of Saudi Arabia as an aviation hub, and selecting world-class companies like Rolls-Royce to power our future Airbus large wide-body fleet ensures we have the right partners in place to achieve our ambitions.

“This deal for 100 Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97 engines to power our fleet of Airbus A350-1000 aircraft is hugely significant as it brings us closer to realising our long-term vision of enhanced connectivity for Riyadh. Our goal is to deliver an unrivalled guest experience, linked to a world-class network and provide our guests with unlimited options to fly direct to major global cities.”

Rob Watson, president of civil aerospace at Rolls-Royce, said: “We’re looking forward to supporting the significant growth ambitions of Riyadh Air in its launch year. The Trent XWB-97 is an incredible engine and our TotalCare package will provide operational certainty across the fleet.

“The engine will benefit from the £1 billion investment we’re making to the Trent engine family that improves their durability and efficiency across all operations. We look forward to supporting these new aircraft as they enter service.”

READ MORE NEWS: Airbus and Riyadh Air sign A350-1000 deal