Thai Airways International plans to spend more than USD$500 million to purchase Rolls-Royce engines for its six Airbus A380 passenger planes.

The purchase of the 24 engines included a 15 year maintenance contract with the British engine maker, Thai Airways President Apinan Sumanaseni told reporters.

The carrier expects to take delivery of up to 4 A380s, the world's largest passenger jet, in 2010 and the rest in 2011, he said.