Aviation Partners Boeing upbeat on 767 blended winglet sales programme
17 Sep 2008
Aviation Partners Boeing (APB) has said it expects its 767 winglet programme to be a runaway success after announcing agreements to fit blended winglets on 767-300ERs operated by Air New Zealand (ANZ) and Hawaiian Airlines (HA).
ANZ announced it will add blended winglets on five of its 767-300ERs by the end of 2009 and HA said it will have eight of its 767's outfitted similarly by the end of 2010.
According to APB, winglets on 737s and 757s have saved a collective 1.2 billion gallon of fuel and 11.5 million tonnes of CO2 even as the have reduced the noise footprint of these aircraft by 6.5 per cent. These winglets have so far been sold to 140 airlines and 95 per cent of all 737NGs are fitted with them.
The company is working on four winglet concepts for the 777 family and hopes to finalize a design by December.
Aviation Partners Boeing (APB) is a joint venture of Aviation Partners, Inc. and The Boeing Company developed to equip Boeing airplanes with Blended Winglet technology.
The 767-300ER winglets are expected to gain certification later this year. According to APB, the 767 winglet programme has been the fastest-selling, with 141 shipsets already sold. It has forecast fuel savings of 4-6% for medium/long-range flights, with shorter 500-nm. flights experiencing a 1.5% fuel savings.