TOKYO (AP) - Britain's Rolls-Royce has approached Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries of Japan to develop an engine for Airbus' next-generation midsize passenger jet, the two Japanese companies said Tuesday.
Rolls-Royce PLC approached Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. about a possible project to co-develop engines for A350 XWB aircraft by Airbus, Kawasaki spokeswoman Yuko Ogino said.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. has also been approached about the project, said Hideo Okuno, a spokesman for Daiya PR Co., which handles international press for Mitsubishi.
Both Ogino and Okuno said the respective companies were still studying the proposal and refused to offer further details.
Japan's Nihon Keizai business daily said that Kawasaki Heavy was likely to develop and produce compressors, while Mitsubishi Heavy will probably be responsible for combustors and turbine rotor blades.
Typically, 100 billion to 200 billion yen ($850 million to $1.7 billion) is required to develop a jet engine, and Rolls-Royce wants Kawasaki Heavy and Mitsubishi Heavy to shoulder around 8.5 percent and about 7 percent of costs, respectively, the Nihon Keizai said.
The firms are in the process of finalizing the shares, with a decision to be made by autumn 2007.
Rolls-Royce has begun negotiations with the two Japanese companies, the Nihon Keizai said, quoting officials from the British company.
The trio has already co-developed an engine for Boeing Co.'s next-generation 787 passenger jet. They also have a track record of developing jet engines for Airbus' smaller aircraft.
The A350 XWB engines will be developed based on 787 aircraft technology. Airbus plans to start operating the A350 XWB, which can seat between 250 and 350 passengers, by 2012 and sell about 1,000 aircraft, the report said.
Separately, Airbus was expected to announce significant new delays to its flagship A380 jet Tuesday after its biggest customer, Dubai-based airline Emirates, said it had received notice that its planes will be another 10 months late.
EADS declined to confirm or deny that its board was scheduled to discuss a restructuring plan for Airbus and a new delivery timetable for its troubled A380, which was already about a year behind schedule when the latest production problems struck.
''Emirates has been advised by Airbus of a further 10-month delay to its A380 program, which means that our first aircraft will now arrive in August 2008,'' Emirates CEO Tim Clark said in an emailed statement.