Rolls-Royce Opens MRO Joint Venture with Air China
Rolls-Royce has officially opened a new joint-venture MRO facility in collaboration with Air China.
The new facility is called Beijing Aero Engine Services Limited (BAESL), operating as the first dedicated Trent engine overhaul facility in China’s mainland.
Beginning in 2026, BAESL will start overhaul capability for the following engines:
- Trent 700
- Trent XWB-84
- Trent 1000 engines
The company also expects to scale up capacity by 2034 to handle up to 250 overhauls per year.
With this opening Rolls-Royce hopes to expand its global MRO network to offer more widebody engine maintenance capacity around the world, with increased local support in China.
BAESL is now the fourth authorized joint-venture overhaul facility in Rolls-Royce’s global services network. It will contribute to the company’s Trent MRO ecosystem, which includes:
- Two Rolls-Royce maintenance facilities
- Seven joint-venture or independent Authorized Maintenance Centers
- Customer-owned shops
The opening was celebrated with a ceremony where the Civil Aviation Administration of China presented BAESL with its maintenance organization certificate (MOC).
This certification verifies that the facility can perform high-quality, reliable and professional overhaul services for Trent engines. The ceremony also hosted the arrival of the facility’s first customer engine, which was observed by:
- Rolls-Royce
- Air China
- Beijing Municipal Government
- British Embassy
- Industry partners
- Suppliers
- Customers
Director – Commercial Aviation Aftermarket Operations Paul Keenan Rolls-Royce said, “The opening of BAESL not only supports our long-term growth in the Chinese market, but also contributes to our ambition to significantly increase our global MRO capacity by 2030.”
Keenan continued, “China is one of the largest and fastest growing widebody markets in the world and is also key to Rolls-Royce. We power more than 500 of China’s in-service commercial aircraft; nearly 20% of our global Trent engines were delivered to China.”
He added, “Increasing flying hours, new orders and existing fleet upgrades all lead to growing demand for shop visits, both in China and around the world. Therefore, we’re making bold investments in our global Trent aftermarket network, including BAESL, to remain resilient and keep our customers flying.”