Rolls-Royce, the global power systems company, has been awarded engine type certification from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) for the Trent XWB that will power the Airbus A350 XWB aircraft.

The certificate was formally handed over by EASA Executive Director Patrick Goudou to Rolls-Royce Trent XWB Programme Director Chris Young at EASA headquarters in Cologne, Germany.

Certification confirms the engine has fulfilled EASA's airworthiness requirements for flight and is the last major engine milestone prior to the first flight of the Airbus A350 XWB later this year.The engines that will power that aircraft have been despatched from Derby to be prepared prior to installation of the fully integrated powerplant on the aircraft's pylon.

The Trent XWB has powered a series of test flights on an Airbus A380 Flying Test Bed (FTB) aircraft since February 2012. Flight test results have shown it to be the world's most efficient large civil aero engine.

Eric Schulz, President – Civil Large Engines, Rolls-Royce, said: "We are very proud to have achieved this significant milestone on the road to the A350 XWB's entry into service. I would like to thank Airbus for their support and all our partners and all of our employees who contributed to the design and certification of the engine. Test results show we have produced the world's most efficient large civil aero engine and we now look forward to the first flight later this year."

Certification testing for the Trent XWB began in 2010 with the first engine test bed run and has involved 11 individual engines running for more than 3,100 hours. It has been a global programme, including icing tests in Canada, hot weather tests in the UAE, altitude and crosswind tests in the USA, endurance tests in Spain and performance tests in the UK.

The Trent XWB, the fastest-selling Trent engine ever with more than 1,200 engines sold to 35 customers, is specifically designed for operation on the A350 XWB and will power all versions of the aircraft.

Today's certification covers Trent XWB engines that will power the A350-800 and A350-900 variants. A higher thrust version of the Trent XWB is currently under development for the A350-1000.