Rolls-Royce plans to restart assembly of Trent XWB-84 engines at its Dahlewitz site, as part of a wider effort to grow production and MRO capacity across both the German facility and the UK manufacturer's Derby headquarters. The project involves investment of £55 million ($70 million) and recruitment of more than 300 staff, says Rolls-Royce. About half of the investment and two thirds of the additional jobs are allocated to Derby. The aim of the UK investment is to grow engine build capacity in Derby and increase deliveries from the site by more than 40% from 2025. Aftermarket support capacity will also be increased at the site, Rolls-Royce adds. Trent XWB-84 assembly at Dahlewitz will resume in 2026 under the plan. Rolls-Royce tells Cirium that an overhaul line for the Airbus A350-900-powering engine will be set up at the site this year and subsequently converted for production. The manufacturer had begun assembling Trent XWB-84s in Dahlewitz in 2017 (alongside their production in Derby), as the only commercial turbofan to be produced at the site. Amid the pandemic, however, Rolls-Royce consolidated all its commercial engine assembly in Derby, also ending Trent 1000 production in Singapore. Dahlewitz, located outside Berlin, is home to Rolls-Royce's business-jet engine activities. The manufacturer in late 2019 announced its intention to support Trent engines at the site, but the plan was not completed amid the pandemic. The facility's large-engine test capacity will be used to "support near-term services demand", says Rolls-Royce. It predicts that the number of Trent-powered aircraft in service will increase by 7-9% per annum through 2030. Last month, the company outlined a £1 billion continuous improvement programme for the Trent engine family. "These latest investments in our engine build and services capacity is further proof of our commitment to deliver both excellent products and services to our global customer base," states Rolls-Royce civil aerospace president Rob Watson.

Embraer intends to deliver 72-80 commercial aircraft in 2024 after 64 E-Jets were handed over to customers last year.
The Brazilian airframer had a target of 65-70 commercial aircraft deliveries for 2023 and previously said that its output had been affected by continued supply chain delays. For its executive aviation division, Embraer targets 125-135 deliveries in this year, following 115 in 2023. Last year's output additionally included two C-390 military airlifters. Embraer says its adjusted EBIT during the fourth quarter of 2023 grew to $182 million, from $166 million during the period in the previous year. Full-year adjusted EBIT increased to $350 million, from previously $270 million. Revenue meanwhile grew 55%, to $1.98 billion, during the fourth quarter and 16%, to $5.27 billion, over the entire year. The airframer's full-year commercial aviation revenue increased 20%, to $1.85 billion, on the back of higher deliveries and product-mix changes, Embraer says. During the fourth quarter, however, commercial aviation revenue declined to $751million, from previously $822 million. Services and support revenue grew 12%, to $1.42 billion, over the full year. Embraer says that it began ground tests of its first E-Jet undergoing freighter conversion during the fourth quarter. For 2024, the manufacturer targets total revenue of $6-6.4 billion.

SriLankan Airlines and Korean Air have entered a codeshare partnership from 15 March that helps to boost connectivity between Colombo and Seoul. Under the partnership, SriLankan will codeshare on Korean Air's flights between Singapore and Seoul Incheon, connecting Colombo and Seoul's Incheon airport via Singapore, the carrier says. Meanwhile‚ Korean Air will codeshare on SriLankan's flights to Seoul, Singapore, Chennai and Male from Colombo. Korean Air's passengers will gain access to SriLankan's Indian-subcontinent network, with about 100 flights a week across nine Indian cities and 23 flights a week to the Maldives. SriLankan notes that through this collaboration its passengers will be able to fly daily between Colombo and Seoul via Singapore. It currently operates a twice-weekly Colombo-Seoul service.