HIGH-FLYING workers at Rolls-Royce in Barnoldswick have double cause for celebrations following new breakthroughs for its Trent family of engines.

The Rolls-Royce-powered Airbus A340-600, which has been designed to take on the Boeing 747 Jumbo jet, has successfully completed its maiden flight from Toulouse.

The five-hour flight represents a major milestone in the development of the Trent 500 engine which has already attracted advance sales of 6 billion dollars.

And further good news for the 1,100 Rolls-Royce workers at Barnoldswick who make wide chord fan blades for the Trent engine range came with the announcement of a new 200 million dollar order from Scandinavian Airline System.

The maiden flight for the Airbus A340-600 marks the start of the final test programme which will lead to the long haul plane entering service with Virgin Atlantic next year.

Co-pilot Ed Strongman said they had achieved everything they had set out to do. "It was really fantastic to go to maximum power and the engines responded magnificently," he added.

John Cheffins, president of civil aerospace at Rolls-Royce, said: "Co-operation between the Airbus and Rolls-Royce teams has been the key to successfully completing this first flight goal.

"The Trent 500 has been one of the smoothest engine development programmes we have ever undertaken. It has been on or ahead of schedule since we committed to the timetable four years ago."

The Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) order for four Airbus A330-300 is another boost for Rolls-Royce. SAS has chosen the Trent 772B engine for its new Airbus fleet which will come into service in August 2002.

Charles Cuddington, executive vice president of airlines at Rolls-Royce, said: "SAS has a well-founded reputation for providing high quality service.

"The fact that it demands the same standards from suppliers was illustrated by the very professional and detailed evaluation it undertook prior to this selection. We are proud to welcome SAS to the Trent family of customers."