Rolls-Royce engine flying hours finally recovery to pre-Covid levels

Rolls-Royce has kept its annual guidance unchanged following a continued rebound in plane journeys since the year started.

The engineering giant revealed large engine flying hours – a measure of how much airlines use its engines – returned to pre-pandemic levels in the opening four months of 2024.

It credited the result to the rising fleet of airplanes containing the firm’s engines and the recovery of global travel across Asia due to loosening Covid-related restrictions.

Rolls-Royce’s civil aerospace division also received significant engine orders from Indian air carrier IndiGo, Taiwanese airline Starlux, and low-cost Vietnamese airline Vietjet.

Consequently, the company has upheld full-year forecasts for engine flying hours of up to 110 per cent of 2019 volumes, as well as 1,300 to 1,400 shop visits and 500 to 550 original equipment deliveries.

Alongside this, it anticipates underlying operating profits of around £1.7billion to £2billion, compared to £1.6billion last year, and free cash flow of about £1.9billion.

Tufan Erginbilgic, chief executive of Rolls-Royce, said: ‘We have had a strong start to the year, despite continued industry-wide supply chain challenges.

‘This builds on our record performance in 2023 and provides further confidence in our guidance for 2024.

‘The focused investments we are making will continue to drive growth and create value for all our stakeholders in the mid-term and beyond.’

Since the former BP executive took over last year, Rolls-Royce has enjoyed a strong turnaround, with its annual profits more than doubling and cash flow hitting record levels.

Its performance has not just benefited from increasing air travel but higher defence spending by governments amid escalating conflicts in Ukraine, Asia, and the Middle East.

Two months ago, the Australian government chose Rolls-Royce to build power units for nuclear submarines under the AUKUS security deal.

And earlier this week, Rolls-Royce announced it would provide technology for a new generation of military aircraft nicknamed the ‘Doomsday Plane’ as part of the US Air Force’s Survivable Airborne Operations Center project. 

In addition, the group is gaining new orders in its power systems business, recently winning a contract to provide a large-scale battery storage system to the Latvian national grid.

Rolls-Royce Holdings shares were 0.75 per cent, or 3.2p, lower at 424.8p on Thursday morning, but they have still skyrocketed by almost 180 per cent over the past 12 months.