Economy Middle East speaks to Rolls Royce president John Kelly about innovation and sustainability in the aviation sector. President John Kelly deep dives into how the company is leveraging technology to achieve sustainability.
As a key player in the global aviation industry, Rolls Royce has been at the forefront of innovation and is keen to use its expertise and experience to make an impact on the global community’s sustainability goals.
Alp Sarper: Could you start by telling us what are you showcasing at this year’s Dubai Airshow?
John Kelly: The beauty of Dubai Airshow is we get to showcase our technology in 3D out here on the flight line, key announcements, as well as the usual orders and customer interactions. We have tested our new Ultrafan which is our future generation gas turbine. We’ve run that up to max power and that’s been one of our key announcements during Dubai Airshow.
The Ultrafan is a step change in technology. It presents a 25 percent reduction in fuel burn relative to early generations of our Trent gas turbines. So that’s a real step forward. The other aspect has been in terms of sustainability. Rolls Royce has been pleased to announce all of our existing engines have been tested and proven to be ready to run on 100 percent sustainable aviation fuel. When we think about the future of the industry, the need to grow sustainably is a really big step forward.
Alp Sarper: Sustainability is one thing. How about a net zero future? What can Rolls Royce do to contribute?
John Kelly: Our contribution is in three main areas. The first, as we’ve spoken with the Ultrafan, is to continue to invest to reduce the emissions and the fuel and carbon generated through our engines. 25 percent reduction which is proven by the Ultrafan is a big step forward. If you think, it reduces a quarter of the fuel required for aviation. So, that’s a huge step forward, a huge reduction. The second element in partnership with reducing the fuel used by the engine is to transition to sustainable aviation fuels.
Again, that requires collaboration with the rest of the industry but provides a great way to remove the carbon emissions or reduce them. By flying sustainably, we see one of the key innovations as well as traditional sources of sustainable aviation fuel, things like bioproducts is to move to synthetics.
Another announcement that we’ve made at Dubai Airshow, is a collaboration with Zero. They are exploring and innovating in the area of synthetic fuels, which offers a great opportunity to scale up the availability of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and to reduce the price. Both of those elements are what’s held airlines back from using it to date. So we think that’s a great way forward.
Alp Sarper: In terms of sustainable aviation fuels, if you could kindly expand, who are the key stakeholders in this area?
John Kelly: We have the manufacturers ourselves, engine manufacturers, and airframers. We have to collaborate across the industry with the likes of the oil firms but also with innovators such as Zero, as I’ve mentioned. Another key element key stakeholder is the government. The right incentives, the right infrastructure, and the governmental perspective are key to promoting and incentivizing the use of SAF. So, the whole ecosystem is something we’re collaborating with here at Dubai Airshow, but also leading into COP28 in a few weeks.
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Alp Sarper: Dubai Airshow is always a big deal when it happens. What kind of impact does it have on the industry?
John Kelly: Dubai Airshow, world leading airshow it’s always high energy, high drama, what’s going on, fabulous location. This time it must have broken records in terms of people attending the show and the transactions announced.
It never disappoints, it’s a fantastic catalyst for bringing together the right players. We always super enjoy our time.
Alp Sarper: As a company, as a brand, what are your expectations from the Dubai Air Show? What will translate as a success for you?
John Kelly: Our success obviously will be measured in terms of the transactions. We’ve seen a huge number of customer transactions, not just new deals with key partners, and key airlines, but also extension of existing deals with some of our trusted and valued customers and partners through the week. The legacy and the future are really about managing this transition to a reduced emissions future. Rolls Royce is a key player, not just in aviation, but across all sectors that we operate in whether it be power generation, defense, and civil aerospace. So, we are very passionate about driving that change and making sure that we can all travel. We want to drive economic growth, but to drive that economic growth sustainably, to remove the guilt from that travel, and to protect the planet for the future.
Alp Sarper is Economy Middle East’s editor-at-large.
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