The international carrier for a French overseas territory has taken delivery of its first new aircraft powered by engines made by Derby’s Rolls-Royce.

At a recent ceremony held at the headquarters of Airbus in Toulouse, Aircalin, which serves the South Pacific island of New Caledonia, received the first of two A330neo jets it has ordered.

The jets, which are powered by Rolls-Royce’s Trent 7000 engines, will replace two existing A330s Aircalin currently operates. It is due to receive its second aircraft later this year.

They will be used to boost capacity and non-stop connectivity between the French Pacific island territory and markets in Japan, Australia and the Pacific Islands nations.

These routes provide important links to tourism as well as business traffic, which are essential to the New Caledonia economy.

The deal for the engines was first announced at the end of 2016 and the contracts formally signed at the end of 2017. The deal also included a TotalCare agreement, which will see Rolls-Royce maintain the engines throughout their service life.

Designed and developed at Rolls-Royce’s civil aerospace division in Sinfin, Derby, the Trent 7000 is a more powerful and efficient version of the popular Trent 700. It utilises technology from others within the Trent family of engines, including the Trent XWB and Trent 1000 TEN.

In a statement, Airbus said: “The A330neo is the true new-generation aircraft building on the most popular wide-body A330’s features and leveraging on A350 XWB technology.

“Powered by the latest Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engines, the A330neo provides an unprecedented level of efficiency – with 25% lower fuel burn per seat than previous generation competitors.”