Rolls-Royce boss urges Labour to back £3bn jet engine project
Tufan Erginbilgic is pushing for the Government to back Rolls's plans to launch a range of engines for short-haul planes, a market it abandoned more than a decade ago.
He said the project could create 40,000 jobs in Britain and deliver a surge in exports.
Mr Erginbilgic is lobbying Labour to support the scheme as the Government prepares to launch its upcoming industrial strategy.
He said: 'Any country needs to support competitively advantaged industries. If you give some momentum that will create lots of export growth, and employment with that.'
Britain's biggest manufacturing company has stepped up talks with potential partners as it eyes a return to making engines for short-haul planes of the kind used by Ryanair and easyJet.
Speaking at the Paris Air Show, Mr Erginbilgic said: 'We are progressing. We would like to enter narrowbody, that's true, and it's even more true right now.
'Our preference is partnership. I can't go into details because of the confidentiality about these things, but we are talking to multiple parties.
'Do we have the technology, do we have the capability, do we have the opportunity? Yes, yes and yes.'
Rolls-Royce would seek government support in helping to fund the £3bn development cost of the engine. Mr Erginbilgic argued that General Electric and Pratt & Whitney, the other major player in the sector, get four or five times as much backing.
He said that support for the project would also deliver a huge boost to the economy. He said: 'It is that big. Think about that. If you pick economic growth in the UK, one item, this will be the number one.'
He added that the project could create more than 40,000 jobs across the supply chain.
Rolls, which has its main manufacturing plant in Derby, would use technology developed as part of its Ultrafan programme on the new engines. It would need to develop a reduced-thrust version of the Ultrafan, which was initially developed for larger, long-haul planes.
The 120-year-old company aims to develop the engines to coincide with the introduction of the next generation of the narrowbody planes from Airbus and Boeing in about a decade's time.
Mr Erginbilgic is eyeing new markets after piloting a stunning turnaround at Rolls-Royce. He told Rolls's 42,000 workers that they were on a 'burning platform' when he took over in 2023.
However, shares in the company have surged more than 700pc since Mr Erginbilgic, a former BP executive, took charge.
Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Medscape
25 minutes ago
- Medscape
Digital Twins: Medicine's New Crystal Ball?
Digital twins are rapidly emerging as powerful tools in personalized medicine and beyond. In healthcare, they serve as virtual representations of a patient's body, body parts, specific organs, and systems, such as the circulatory and nervous systems. Functional modeling of the state and behavior of the body or its components has the potential to provide information for clinical and research applications. The goal is to simulate how an organ, system, or even the entire body responds to stimuli and circumstances of clinical relevance to the patient, thereby deriving useful conclusions. These models may be descriptive, predictive, prescriptive, or even generative, capable of filling in missing or unavailable data. A central challenge is accurately replicating the physicochemical, physiological, anatomical, and, when needed, psychological attributes relevant to each specific use case. Building clinically useful digital twins depends on integrating diverse data sources, which is a technically complex task. However, when successful, it enables a dynamic 'dialogue' with the model to evaluate its current state, forecast evolution, and simulate responses to interventions such as therapies. It is important to emphasize that digital twin simulations are tailored to individual patients — they do not represent a generic or archetypal patient but instead aim to create a personalized model for a specific individual. One example is a project led by the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), which is developing digital twins of women with advanced cancer using artificial intelligence. This initiative, titled 'High-Definition Oncology in Women's Cancer,' is part of the Precision Medicine Infrastructure Associated With Science and Technology program. These digital twins consist of multiple layers of information integrated into a single model that reflects reality for a specific application. In the aforementioned project, a wide range of data were incorporated into the digital twin models, spanning tumor metabolism, gene and protein expression, physiological indicators such as circadian rhythms, heart rate, and physical activity, emotional well-being, and conventional clinical data from diagnostics to treatment protocols. Adding more 'layers' of information enhances the model complexity and accuracy, enabling incremental improvements and expanded functionality. A notable innovation in this case is the biological clock model developed by the CNIO, which estimates a patient's biologic age. This can help assess whether biologic aging accelerates or slows during disease progression, providing insight into the effect of treatment. This may guide clinicians in adjusting treatment intensity or modifying therapeutic combinations according to the patient's evolving biologic state. The layers of information used and their integration are key aspects of each type of digital twin, ensuring that it is not only functional but also clinically relevant. In many ways, digital twins serve as 'maps,' both literal and figurative. In the most direct sense, they can guide the planning of physical interventions such as surgical procedures. Broader Applications In addition to simulating the effects of therapies, digital twins can model the natural progression of diseases and support long-term care planning. They may help anticipate the onset of certain conditions, particularly hereditary diseases, when risk factors are present but symptoms have yet to appear. These models offer valuable tools for proactive risk prevention and management. In the context of prevention, the ability to present a stronger, data-driven case — even if derived from simulations — could help persuade patients and improve adherence to preventive care guidelines. Integration With Medical Devices From a certain perspective, digital twins resemble a technology-driven 'crystal ball.' Once refined, these models could allow clinicians to explore alternative therapeutic scenarios and identify the most effective treatment strategies. This minimizes reliance on trial and error, enabling faster data-driven decisions in a controlled simulation environment, a kind of clinical sandbox. A key area of synergy lies between the digital twins and medical devices. Wearable technologies, for instance, can supply real-time or periodic health data that dynamically update a patient's digital twin. Conversely, digital twins can enhance the medical device field by enabling the optimization of device configurations or implant placements. Their integration into the body and potential physiological effects can be modeled and simulated in advance, allowing for more precise and personalized interventions. These models also help to synthesize and manage large volumes of complex data. By serving as intelligent filters, they reduce the cognitive load on clinicians, offering clear visualizations and simulations that support more confident decision-making, especially in complex or uncertain clinical situations. Applications and Regulatory Considerations Digital twins hold promise across a wide range of medical applications, from early diagnosis, prognosis, and personalized therapy selection to treatment monitoring and relapse prevention. In fields such as neurology, cardiology, and oncology, these models have already shown potential. Digital twins have already been applied in neurology, cardiology, and oncology. Focusing on Spain-based developments, two recent advances featured by Univadis Spain , a Medscape Network platform, stand out: One involves using digital twins for research on the human brain to uncover mechanisms linked to psychosis remission, and the other demonstrates the use of digital twin improvements in the diagnosis of premature ventricular contractions. While the field is evolving rapidly, it remains in its early stages. Although technical hurdles and regulatory complexities are expected, the long-term potential is significant. Digital twins could enable faster and safer evaluations of multiple treatment paths and support virtual experimentation in a risk-free environment. One major challenge is clinical validation. Digital twins must be tested with real-world longitudinal data and demonstrate that their predictions provide added value compared to current clinical guidelines. Equally crucial is the development of interoperable, cross-border data infrastructure that enables scalable, coordinated adoption across healthcare systems worldwide. A final and crucial aspect to consider is data privacy, ownership, and ethical use of digital twins. Beyond the data itself, fundamental questions arise about digital twin models: Who owns a person's digital twin? Should these models be transferable, and if so, under what conditions? Informed consent is central to addressing these issues and ensuring the responsible use of digital twin technologies in clinical practice. The use of digital twins in clinical trials is already being explored, and their potential extends further to medical training and patient education, particularly in explaining therapeutic options. As technology evolves, the range of future applications continues to expand.
Travel Weekly
an hour ago
- Travel Weekly
Following other cities, Cannes will begin 'regulating, organizing' cruise calls
PARIS (AP) -- The French Riviera resort of Cannes is imposing what its city council calls "drastic regulation" on cruise ships, halving the number of very large ships allowed in its harbor and capping the daily number of passenger visits at 6,000 starting next year. The city is joining a growing global backlash against overtourism, which recently saw uproar over Jeff Bezos' and Lauren Sanchez' Venice wedding, water-gun protests in Spain and a surprise strike at the Louvre Museum. "Less numerous, less big, less polluting and more esthetic" -- that's the aim of Cannes city councilors who voted June 27 to introduce new limits on cruise ships in its ports. The aim is to ban all ships carrying more than 1,300 people by 2030, city hall said in a statement. Starting next year, a maximum of 6,000 cruise passengers will be allowed to disembark per day, and the number of ships carrying more than 5,000 passengers will be cut by 48% in 2026. Larger ships will be expected to transfer passengers to smaller boats to enter Cannes. France, which drew in some 100 million visitors last year, more than any other European country and more than the country's population, is on the front line of efforts to balance economic benefits of tourism with environmental concerns while managing ever-growing crowds. "Cannes has become a major cruise ship destination, with real economic benefits. It's not about banning cruise ships but about regulating, organizing, setting guidelines for their navigation," mayor David Lisnard said in a statement. Cruise operators have called such restrictions damaging for destinations and for passengers. Two cruise ships were scheduled to dock in Cannes on June 29, each bigger than the upcoming 1,300-passenger limit and with a combined capacity of more than 7,000 people. Their owners did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the new restrictions. The nearby Mediterranean city of Nice announced limits on cruise ships earlier this year, as have some other European cities. Others are implementing additional taxes on ships. This report was published by the Associated Press.


Bloomberg
an hour ago
- Bloomberg
US Tells GE Aerospace It Can Restart Jet Engine Exports to China
The US has lifted its export ban on American-made jet engine parts and technology to China, according to a person familiar with the matter. The US Department of Commerce has told GE Aerospace that it can restart the shipment and supply of engines for Chinese planemaker Commercial Aircraft Corp of China Ltd., the person said, asking not to be identified because the discussions are private.